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Crooked Pixels

Musings about design, technology and everything in between.

Written by Charles Lim aka Ched

Gorilla Arm SyndromeUX

Gorilla Arm Syndrome

Tony Stark doesn't feel it because he's a fictional billionaire. You will.

The fatigue caused by interfaces that require sustained physical effort to operate. Named for the ape-like posture required by sustained touchscreen use, it's the reason gesture-based interfaces look better in movies than in offices. The best interface keeps your arms where they want to be: at your sides.

TL;DR

Physical fatigue caused by interfaces requiring sustained arm elevation, first identified in the 1980s and still present in modern touchscreen and gesture-based systems.

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Crooked Pixels

Charles Lim is Head of Brand & Communications at PartnerStack — a designer who codes, a strategist who ships, a brand leader who drives pipeline. Crooked Pixels is his field notes on building with AI.

Learn more about Charles at charleslim.net