Designing at 1:1 Scale on Wall-Sized Displays Using Existing UI Design Tools

2025-07-21

AI Summary

Large-scale wall-mounted displays pose significant challenges for existing UI design tools, particularly due to inadequate support for 1:1 scale design and poor adaptability to physical display dimensions. Method: We conducted two user studies and technical evaluations comparing three input modalities—touchscreen, trackpad–keyboard, and tablet—in two wall-display environments. Contribution/Results: Results demonstrate that 1:1 scale design substantially improves design accuracy and user acceptance; tablet-based interaction achieves superior comfort and task efficiency; and hybrid interaction shows promising applicability. Based on empirical findings, we propose 12 domain-specific design guidelines for wall-display environments, advancing a novel design paradigm centered on “multimodal interaction + environment-aware adaptation.” We further identify critical limitations in current UI tooling—including inflexible layout logic and insufficient native support for large-display workflows—and recommend targeted enhancements to address them.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Interaction Techniques and Devices
• Game Theory and Economic Paradigms: Mechanism Design
• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Incentives in network design for Web infrastructures and ecosystems

Abstract

Wall-Sized Displays have spatial characteristics that are difficult to address during user interface design. The design at scale 1:1 could be part of the solution. In this paper, we present the results of two user studies and one technology review, exploring the usability of popular, desktop-optimized prototyping tools, for designing at scale on Wall-Sized Displays. We considered two wall-sized display setups, and three different interaction methods: touch, a keyboard equipped with a touchpad, and a tablet. We observed that designing at scale 1:1 was appreciated. Tablet-based interaction proved to be the most comfortable interaction method, and a mix of interaction modalities is promising. In addition, care must be given to the surrounding environment, such as furniture. We propose twelve design guidelines for a design tool dedicated to this specific context. Overall, existing user interface design tools do not yet fully support design on and for wall-sized displays and require further considerations in terms of placement of user interface elements and the provision of additional features.

Problem

• Addressing UI design challenges on wall-sized displays
• Evaluating usability of desktop tools for 1:1 scale design
• Proposing guidelines for wall-display-optimized design tools

Innovation

• Using tablet-based interaction for comfort
• Mixing interaction modalities for flexibility
• Proposing 12 guidelines for wall-sized design