ux-tablet
UX for Tablet
A thin medium layer, and the trickiest of the three — tablet is a genuine hybrid that inherits rules from both neighbors and contradicts each of them in places. The reasoning lives in ux-first-principles; read it first or alongside. Here is what the tablet medium changes.
What defines the tablet medium
Touch-first input on a large screen, frequently held two-handed (or propped), often with an attached keyboard and/or pointer some of the time, and capable of showing two or more panes at once and running split-view alongside another app. The defining trait is intermittency: the same app may be pure-touch in one moment and pointer-plus-keyboard the next, fullscreen now and half-width in split-view a moment later.
Where tablet inherits — and where it breaks the rule
Inherits from mobile (touch is the baseline assumption):
- Target sizing: assume fingertips. Use touch-sized targets and spacing as the floor, exactly as on phones — do not drop to desktop density just because the screen is big.
- No guaranteed hover: a pointer may be attached, but it usually isn't. Never make essential information or actions hover-only; hover can be a progressive enhancement when a pointer is present, never a requirement.
- Gestures and signifiers: swipe/long-press/pinch apply; signpost them, provide visible alternatives.
Inherits from desktop (the screen is large):
- Density can rise — carefully: the large screen supports multi-pane layouts (list + detail), persistent sidebars, and more content in view than a phone. Use the room for a master-detail or two-column structure rather than forcing the phone's single-column flow. But keep touch sizing while raising information density — the combination is what makes tablet distinct.
- Multi-pane and split-view: tablets do split-view / slide-over multitasking, so your app may be half-width unexpectedly. Layouts must adapt between one-pane (narrow / split) and multi-pane (full width) — this is the tablet's signature responsive behavior.