Filling Touching in Forms - What Apple missed in Touch ID
'Fill in the blanks' is something not many like to do, I did not like them even while studying English subject at school. We still don't like to fill in forms even in this age of mobile and wearable computing. Forms have been part of our life at every stages from filling the paper forms while enrolling your kids at a school, to registering/login after every new app you download on that so-called smartphone, or even during checkout process while purchasing on eCommerce websites.
These days, it can really get bit annoying and monotonous as we fill same basic information about our self on most websites or mobile applications and most likely dropout of the registration process or cancel the purchase only otherwise it is extremely crucial.
To understand further, lets see the following most common issues which all of us would have faced at some point
While filling or typing in forms:
1. On small screens of mobile devices it can get very cumbersome
2. Timer that runs on eCommerce and Ticket booking websites adds to inefficiency
3. Creating errors and incorrect data entry
4. We use mobile most often one handed and it gets difficult to type.
When #Apple released it's iOS7 in September 2013, they also announced the iPhone5S with Touch ID and what I think is an intelligent technology seamless integrated along with the home button. Currently the Touch ID feature is used only for unlocking the iPhone and while buying iTunes and App Store. Although, what they missed (Touching Forms) could have been an essential and useful feature.
Touch ID is a seamless way to use your fingerprint as a passcode. With just a touch of the Home button of the iPhone 5s, the Touch ID sensor quickly reads your fingerprint and automatically unlocks your phone. This technology can possibly also be used why filling the forms on mobile apps and websites, let's see how. I have mocked up few screens to show how the 'settings' of Touch ID could be used to set input fields which are frequently used by many while filling forms.
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| Added 'Filling in Forms' under Use Touch ID for, where Apple currently has iPhone Unlock and iTunes & App Store |
Forms should allow:
1. User to access the service or product hiding behind forms
2. Form inputs that encourage completion and successful submission
3. Creating effective and efficient environment for online purchase.
How Apple Touch ID can help:
1. On your iPhone5S (which supports TouchID), save all basic personal and/or confidential data in settings of Touch ID
2. Enable the or switch On the option of 'Filling in forms' under Use Touch ID for
3. This will allow forms in native apps and websites to access your data based on the secured fingerprint authentication.
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| Some of the input fields which are commonly asked by many websites of apps are predefined in the Touch ID > Filling in forms |
1. All eCommerce websites and native apps, during checkout process
2. While registering, login and adding new accounts.
Which input fields can be set:
1. Name (First Name & Last Name)
2. Address (Physical and Mailing)
3. Age and Birthday
4. Contact Numbers
5. Email ID (Any number of Email IDs)
6. Social Media ID
7. Gender
8. Nationality
9. Bank Account Numbers
10. Lot more confidential data which can be encrypted and shown as truncated with asterisk
Conclusion:
We all make mistakes, and specially when screens of mobile are so dependent on our touch to type gesture it is common we can make typo errors with our own name. I hope Apple (I want only them to do this as I'm a keen follower) or some other device manufacturer to come up with similar solution that can really resolve the biggest issue that exist while human interacts with the systems to fill in forms.
On Behance
Conceptualized and Designed by
Keshav Soni - Interaction Designer
Chennai, India
+91 9841130519
