Design

Design Principles

Updated: Aug 17, 2026

These twenty plain-language design principles distill what we’ve learned about designing for Hands. Use them as a shared vocabulary when planning, prototyping, and reviewing hand-tracking experiences. They are grouped into eight themes, from simplicity and intuitiveness through to the process of iterating your way to a great result.

Expand a theme below, then step through its principles one at a time with the carousel arrows.

Simplicity & Intuitiveness · Principles 01–04

PRINCIPLE 01

Simplicity is key: keep hands-first game designs as simple as possible

Focus on one core interaction.

Mirror real-life interactions.

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Core Experience · Principles 05–07

PRINCIPLE 05

Hands should feel satisfying

Many Hands players will not be adept at controllers, and most controller players will be new to Hands. Navigation and play should feel complete, and be a satisfying experience for both types of players.

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Physical Comfort · Principles 08–10

PRINCIPLE 08

Hands experiences should not feel like exercise

Unless it's a fitness app, avoid fatigue. Our research has shown that experience turns into exercise whenever the hands go above the heart.

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Hand Representation · Principles 11–12

PRINCIPLE 11

Virtual hands should match players' real hand positions

In many cases, players will expect virtual hands to match up position-wise with their IRL hands. Take this into account when representing rotations, positions, and tracking.

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Inclusivity & Accessibility · Principles 13–14

PRINCIPLE 13

Hands functionality should work for all hand types

Functionality should be robust and not differ based on player hand size, color, or age — everyone's hands are different.

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Feedback & Responsiveness · Principles 15–17

PRINCIPLE 15

Pair Hands with sensory feedback to mimic touch

Hands support should be paired with other sensory affordances to mimic tactile feel — for example, SFX clicks, VFX to highlight active fingers, and other audio-visual cues.

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