Haptic Feedback
Haptic feedback, or “haptics”, is a mobile touch experience that responds to a user's action with vibration patterns. Implementation of haptics should help to enhance a user’s experience throughout the app by providing vibrational feedback in response to a user’s actions. Haptics can also be combined with visual and audio feedback.
Principles
When it comes to haptics, less is more. Too much vibration can become annoying, distracting or desensitizing. When haptics are implemented in a thoughtful way, they can provide valuable feedback and a better overall experience for users. Haptics should be:
- Complementary: By establishing a clear relationship between haptics and their corresponding triggers, users will understand their usage. When the app's visual, auditory, and tactile feedback sync, the user experience is more consistent and natural.
- Voluntary: We allow users the option to turn off haptics within their device settings if they choose to do so. The app is still usable when haptics are turned off.
- Purposeful: We avoid needless alerts. Haptics are powerful and should only be used to provide valuable and actionable information.
- Understated: We want to ensure the users can get valuable information without interrupting their actions. Haptics should not complement content, not compete with it.
- Mild: We do not rely on the intensity of the haptic feedback alone. The intensity of the haptics should compliment the trigger.
- Simple: Keep it simple for accessibility. While haptics greatly benefit deaf and low vision users, they may also trigger issues for those with sensory disabilities or PTSD.
Support
- Not all devices or operating systems support haptics.
- Each device and operating system have their own location and verbiage for haptic settings.
- Not all operating systems support the same haptic patterns.
Implementation
- Haptics in the VA Health and Benefits app work if the Veteran's device haptic settings are enabled.
- Haptics are implemented on a component level.
- We use a 3 pattern since it is available in our React Native library and available across multiple operating systems.
| Component | Occurrence | Pattern | OS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snackbar | Appearance | 3 Pattern | Android / iOS |
| Toggle | Interaction | Heavy Toggle | Android / iOS |
| Error Alert Box | Appearance | 3 Pattern | Android / iOS |
| Warning Alert Box | Appearance | 3 Pattern | Android / iOS |