No Need to Stop – Exploring Smartphone Interaction Paradigms While Cycling

Current apps for cyclists follow the “stop-to-interact” paradigm, neglecting that people interact with their smartphones in motion. We conducted two studies to explore paradigms for interaction that can be applied while cycling. In an enactment study, participants freely explored movements suitable for interaction while using a bicycle trainer and discussed respective requirements and constraints. The analysis of the interaction movements and the group discussion showed that users preferred to keep their hands on the handlebars while performing subtle gestures with their fingers. Based on this we performed an outdoor study focused on interacting with a smartphone game while riding a bicycle, using three interaction options: buttons on the handlebars, the phone’s touchscreen, and a wristband activated by flipping the wrist. Using buttons resulted in a significantly lower physical demand and significantly lower frustration compared to the other alternatives, as well as better task performance compared to interacting using the wristband.