Directional Swipe Counter

How the Directional Swipe Counter Works

The Directional Swipe Counter sorts every swipe into up, down, left or right and keeps a separate count for each direction. The tool picks the direction from the larger of the horizontal and vertical movement.

1. Swipe in any direction: Flick the finger at least 50 px across the surface.
2. Direction is detected: The tool compares horizontal and vertical movement to find the main axis.
3. Count by direction: The matching direction total rises by 1.
4. Compare directions: See up, down, left and right totals and their shares.

Directional Swipe Counter Formula

The Directional Swipe Counter direction equals the sign of the larger movement axis. The swipe angle equals the arctangent of vertical over horizontal movement.

Δx

Horizontal movement, positive to the right

Δy

Vertical movement, positive downward on screens

atan2

Angle of the swipe in degrees

Example: A swipe moves Δx = −140 px and Δy = 30 px. |Δx| > |Δy| and Δx < 0, so the Left count rises by 1. Angle = 167.9°.

Directional Swipe Counter Reference Table

The Directional Swipe Counter conversion table maps swipe angles to the 4 direction counts. Screen angles run clockwise from the right.

About the Directional Swipe Counter

A Directional Swipe Counter is a gesture counter that tallies swipes separately by direction. The tool shows how often each direction is used and how well a screen tracks each one.

Screen coordinates differ from math coordinates: the Y axis grows downward. A downward swipe has a positive Δy, which is why the tool reports it as Down.

Ways to Use the Directional Swipe Counter

There are 5 main uses of the Directional Swipe Counter, including game control practice and UX research.

• ✓Game control practice: Players count direction swipes in runner and puzzle games.
• ✓UX research: Designers count which swipe directions users try first.
• ✓Card sorting: Users sort cards with left for No and right for Yes.
• ✓Survey answers: Interviewers swipe left, right, up or down for 4 answer types.
• ✓Digitizer checks: Technicians confirm swipes register in all 4 directions.