Redesigning the smartphone dial pad
To me, none of these seems like a real improvement, and they all have drawbacks.<p>Part of the reason the current layout works is because it is well chunked. You have 123 on top, 456 in the middle, and 789 on the bottom. 0 and functional keys, which often serve their own purpose, get their own row. Four sets of three, nicely like the way our minds like to remember numerals and sets of numerals. Shape-wise, 1-9 are in a square, in numerical order from left to right just like a paragraph, then the others continue the pattern to a lesser extent. This creates a very easy and forgiving mental map because it is a simple shape, the full width (more or less) of the display or device, with a familiar pattern.<p>In contrast, 4 of these designs have different numbers of numbers on each row, some with several different widths. You'd have to remember, was it three numbers in the first row, or two? How many in the second? Was that one with an extra button on the side?<p>So to start these designs don't seem to consider why the original design is successful.<p>Next they don't seem to include the context of the thumb thing. We often hold our phone in one hand because precision is not required for most apps, for example Instagram where all functionality is within that bottom easy zone. But other apps require precision, many games for instance, and it's likely people change their grip frequently for those contexts. Is there data on that specifically? Anecdotally I seem to remember most people I know holding with one hand and dialing with the other. So the reach of the thumb isn't as big a consideration as the designers might think.<p>And as others have pointed out it won't save much time, since hardly anyone uses the dialpad except the occasional adding of a contact or dialing of a conference line.<p>I don't mean to rag on this (rereading, I sounded more critical than I am), I think it's fun to try to redesign stuff. But it reminds me of when people try to remake the ordinary wall outlet. They start modifying it without really considering how deceptively well designed it is.