Had to choose between a hamburger menu and a bottom tab bar for a banking app last week

I went with the bottom tab bar thinking it was more modern, but now my older users keep accidentally transferring money when they bump their phone. Has anyone else dealt with accidental taps on bottom navigation causing real headaches?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennifer_fisher2d ago

Swap the bottom navigation to the left side or just disable accidental touch input for a second after a tap registers. I've seen banking apps where they put a small delay before the action actually goes through, like a 200 millisecond hold requirement. That way, a quick brush from a pocket or a bump won't trigger a transfer. You also might want to add a confirmation step for anything involving money movement, not just a single tap. The hamburger menu gets a lot of hate, but for banking it actually works better since users have to intentionally open it and navigate. Older users specifically need that extra step to avoid mistakes, so don't feel bad about going back to it.

fiona_nelson512d ago

The same principle shows up in lots of places, like how automatic doors have a delay before closing so you don't get smacked. You'd think digital design would learn from real world friction by now like you mentioned @jennifer_fisher. Sometimes the extra step is the feature, not the flaw.