Designing a scoring app you can use one-handed

A scorer at a club match has one hand on the phone and the other shielding the screen from the sun. They can't look down for long — there's a ball every few seconds. If your UI needs two thumbs and full attention, it has already failed.

Design for the thumb, not the designer

We laid CricVerse out around the reach of a single thumb. The most common actions — runs, dot balls, wickets — sit in the bottom third of the screen where the thumb naturally rests. Rare actions live up top, out of the way.

• Big targets. Every primary control is at least 44pt, usually larger. Misses cost a ball.
• No destructive taps near the hot zone. Undo is easy; accidental deletes are impossible.
• High contrast by default. It has to be readable in direct sunlight, not just a dark room.

Less chrome, more glanceability

The score is the largest thing on the screen, always. Everything else is supporting cast. A scorer should be able to confirm the state of the match in the half-second between deliveries — and then look back up at the game.

"If the scorer has to think about the app, the app is in the way."

Designing for the hardest real-world moment — bright sun, one hand, no time — made the app better for everyone, everywhere.