Gaia/System/Type

Team

• UX: Josh Carpenter (IRC: jcarpenter)
• UX: Patryk (IRC: patryk)
• UX: Casey Yee (IRC: cyee)
• Dev: Etienne (IRC: etienne)
• Eng: Chris Jones (IRC: cjones)

UX Requirements

Last updated: Mar 27, 2012 (Patryk Adamczyk)

Summary

The ubiquity of type within the user interface coupled with the needs of mobile computing make excellent type-handling an important element of the user experience.

• Mobile devices are used in a far wider range of situations and conditions than traditional computers, from the dark of a bar, to the brightness of the beach.
• Mobile devices have small screens (approx 3.5" on average).
• Mobile devices have higher pixel densities (ppi) than traditional computers.
• Typography is beauty: typography is a vital component of communication design and human culture. We are exposed to thousands of examples every day. The average person might not know what's "wrong" with poor typography, but they can sense it, and it influences their impression of a brand or product.
• Legibility is usability: small type needs to be clear. It's crucial that the interface rendering engine honors the typographic decisions of the designer, and displays type in it's best light.

Requirements

• Type rendering quality: accuracy (forms retain the same shape at each size) and consistency
• CSS tag support: excellent support for text-rendering, font-size, line-height, measurement units, effects etc.
• Default font specification: ability to specify default fonts loaded onto device.
• Default font minimum requirements:
  • EFIGS support
  • Types: Sans, Serif, Mono
  • Style: Bold, Regular, Italic
• Font size: user to have the ability to specify global font size
• Font formats: web font formats, etc
• Font features: adjustable leading and kerning, available kerning pairs, etc
• Global Language Support: Asian character sets, middle eastern sets (arabic & hebrew), northern European sets
• Legal clearance to distribute licensed fonts, including core fonts for the web or alternatives for these fonts
• Sub-pixel rendering quality and adjustability: eg horizontal for Script fonts, vertical for Roman (MIGHT HAVE THAT REVERSED...)
• NEED TO REFINE THIS SECTION

Determinants

Touch responsiveness is determined by a wide range of technologies, making it a challenging to address:

• Gecko
• ADD TO...