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I'm writing a game that will be deployed on both web (mouse-based environment) and Android (touch-based environment).
I would like to say, "click here" (but that doesn't make sense in a touch environment) or "tap/touch here" (which doesn't make sense in a mouse-based environment).
So is there a word that can mean both, essentially a "click or tap"? Or am I stuck with "click or tap"?
Edit: The exact sentence is "Click/Tap anywhere to return to the main menu."
From a non-technical stand point, "click" is fine. Though using the word "tap" will give the user a feeling that it is designed with them in mind, they won't notice if it isn't there.
However, from a design stand point, you should never say "click here". For instance, you would never say "To search for a topic on Google, click here" A best practice in making buttons or links in applications or webpages is to omit needless words. You would rather say, "Use Google to search for a topic." You wouldn't have a button that says "Click Here" and next it say "to submit." You would rather have a button that says "Submit." The user will know that they need to click or tap a link or button without you having to explicitly tell them.
PS - From a completely technical stand point, the programmer can use an if/else statement to test for whether the user is coming from a device with a mouse or a phone with a touch screen.
EDIT: In your edit, you give the exact sentence in question. I would suggest using as little wording as possible. Perhaps a button that simply says "Main Menu."
Though it appears we are straying from the topic of writing, I think this actually still applies. UI design, like writing, has a definitive stream of consciousness. First this, then that. Using a concept the user/reader is not used to can bring them out of the flow of the app/prose. Also, avoid being passive in your sentence. It is the difference between "The meeting will be held at 7" and "The meeting's at 7."
I worked with a software documentation team that decided to used the word press to mean both click and tap in a GUI that supported both platforms.
eg: "Press the red button to save your data"
I thought they found just the right amount of ambiguity.
I'm actually okay with "click" for a touch-based environment. The GUI started as mouse-based, so everyone knows that the action to activate a function is a "click." When it was ported to touchscreens, it was explained as "to click on an icon, tap the screen." It's like the idea of "dialing" a phone with buttons. There is no dial, but that is the right word to use.
"Touch" might work in some cases. "Push" works for buttons.
As others have said, consider making the choice of word depend on the runtime environment, akin to the way programmers internationalize software. Instead of writing "Click" or "Tap" directly into your text, you refer to a variable whose value is specified in a configuration file. In the Android configuration file, the value would be "touch" or "tap". In the web configuration file, it would be "click". I don't know whether Android's Java uses Properties files, but if so, that might be a good mechanism.
affordance) any further by reinforcing ambiguity in this way. Affordance is for 'true' (functional) affordances, whereas perceived affordance is for those things which effect the intended responses and visual-conceptual identity. The matter will be very important as virtual mechanics and aesthetics further separate from physical constraints. Thanks, Another OldTimer
Nov 3, 2015 at 22:07
Can't you simply make a condition depending on environment of usage? If environment is web then word is click, if environment is mobile then word is tap or touch.
It doesn't fit in every case, but where possible I prefer "select". This works especially well when describing navigational actions, for example:
Login to the AWS EC2 Management Console and in the images section of the left-side navigation, select AMIs.
Unfortunately, one can't really "select" a button; where select doesn't work, I agree with SimplGy and generally use "press".
I agree that technical solutions may be superior, but in my case I'm writing technical documentation published separately to the software interfaces in question, so there's no opportunity to switch terms based on context.
