How People Hold Their Phones and Where to Put Buttons
In 1,333 observations of people using phones, 49% held the phone in one hand, 36% cradled it in one hand while using the other, and 15% used two hands. Among one-handed users, 67% used the right thumb and 33% the left (UXmatters, 2013). There is no single way people hold a phone, so a page designed for one grip fails for many visitors.
What the research observed
Hoober recorded how people held and touched their phones. Of the 1,333 observations, 780 involved touching the screen. Among people cradling the phone, 72% tapped with a thumb and 28% with a finger (UXmatters, 2013).
The original article included drawings of which screen areas a right thumb can easily reach. Hoober later said those drawings should be ignored. His later work found that people favor touching and reading the middle of the screen, and that targets at the edges and corners are harder and slower to hit (UXmatters, 2017).
What it means for a business website
Mobile design advice often still cites the thumb-reach arc and puts key buttons in the lower right. That serves one grip among several. A third of one-handed users hold the phone in the left hand, and half of all observed users were not using one hand at all.
The more useful rule is position on the screen, not which hand. The middle of the screen is where people tap and read most comfortably.
What to do
- Place your main mobile actions, such as Call, Book, or Get a Quote, in the middle region of the screen.
- Put navigation and secondary actions along the top or bottom edge.
- Avoid placing any key action only in a corner or only on the right side.
- Test your site on a real phone with your left hand, your right hand, and both hands.
Sources
- Hoober. How Do Users Really Hold Mobile Devices?. UXmatters, 2013.
- Hoober. Design for Fingers, Touch, and People, Part 3. UXmatters, 2017.