Universal Gesture Language
 

When we work with gestures, we need to look beyond individual apps and look at the whole digital ecosystem. We need to look at all the gestures we use on various devices and find patterns.

Patterns that will allow us to create a system, a basic set of rules – a language.

We forget that gestures are just like words of a language. The reason what I'm saying here makes sense to you is because we speak the same language. A group of people got together and agreed on a basic set of rules that certain sounds meant certain things and decided to call it English.

The same condition applies to gestures. We need a basic set of rules to make sure we speak the same language – or use the same set of gestures.

That's why we have put together the patterns we have discovered into a simple language that would allow us to systematically assign gestures to various functions of the apps we build, so that every gesture is consistent, logical, and easy to remember on all the app across all the platforms. 

We decided to call it Universal Gestures Language.

It’s actually quite simple, It’s based on 3 basic principles.
 

Basic Principles
 

1-FINGER GESTURES

Control actions or movements (Primary Functions)
 

2-FINGER GESTURES

Manipulate values (Secondary Functions)
 

3-FINGER GESTURES

Control functions that require confirmation (Tertiary Functions)
 

Benefits
 

MINIMALISTIC & BEAUTIFUL

It allows us to replace unnecessary buttons with simple gestures so that our interfaces can be
more minimalistic and beautiful.
 

CONSISTENT, LOGICAL, AND EASY TO REMEMBER

It allows us to assign gestures to various functions of the apps we develop so that all the
gestures can be consistent, logical, and easy to remember on all the apps across all platforms.
 

EFFICIENT & EFFORTLESS

It allows us to directly interact with our digital world with the set of conventions that are much
closer to the conventions of our reality, rather than having to depend on unnatural button-based
interfaces. Such efficient & effortless control allows us to be able to immerse ourselves in the
digital experience without the clutter or restrictions we had in the past. 
 

If you are interested in learning how you can apply these principles to your projects, download our Universal Gesture Guideline here