The size of the mobile phone screen has doubled in the last 10 years
Since the days of the original iPhone, smartphone sales have grown year by year. 2019 is the first year when the market has reached a saturation point and sales have started to decline. But that doesn’t mean people use phones less. According to Quartz and Ciodive, by 2020 we will spend 80% of our time online on mobile phones. Compare this to 2010, when only a quarter of Internet users used a telephone.
As phone sales have grown, their screen sizes have more than doubled. The average screen size of smartphones has increased from 3.2 inches to 5.5 inches. In 2017, device manufacturers began using a higher 18: 9 aspect ratio for 5.7-inch and 6-inch displays. We now see that 6-inch displays with an aspect ratio of 18: 9 are becoming a new standard in the flagship and mid-priced segments, as they have a larger screen area than 5.5-inch displays with an aspect ratio of 16: 9, according to XDA-Developers.
Thumb-operated design
For the first time I heard the term “thumb-driven design” from Vitaly Friedman. It is based on research by Stephen Huber and Josh Clark on how people hold their devices.
The fact is that in almost every case, the three main grips were the most common. 49% of users held their phones with one hand, 36% held the phone with one hand and poked the index or thumb of the other hand. And the remaining 15% took the BlackBerry prayer position holding the phone with both hands and typing with their thumbs, according to Josh Clark. Stephen Huber found that 75% of users touch the screen with just one thumb. Hence the term “thumb-operated”.