The tick
Sound and haptics on a wheel, and when to stop.
·3 min read
Why a wheel ticks
A wheel picker is something you flick without looking, so it has to tell you where it is some other way. On Tessel's alarm sheet that is a tick: a mark on the band, a click on a desktop and a short vibration on a phone, once for every row.
The first version ticked when the wheel stopped, and it felt like a receipt. Moving the tick to the moment each row crosses the band made it feel like a ratchet, which is what a dial is.
Wake up
6:45 AM
When to stop
Above a certain speed, ticks blur into a buzz, and a buzz in your hand at six in the morning is not pleasant. So the tick drops out once rows pass faster than one every 30ms, and comes back as the wheel slows into its last few rows.
Haptics are off by default. A vibration is a stronger signal than a sound, and the person holding the phone should be the one to choose it.