Long Zheng at istartedsomething.com has posted an interesting article defending the often maligned honeycomb, the scattered hexagonal arrangement of icons used in the updated Start Menu of Windows Mobile 6.5.

Long clearly describes the logic of the hexagonal icon layout:

“Contrary to popular belief, the tip of human fingers is not squared, but in fact circle-shaped when depressed against a hard surface like a touchscreen. When you’re space-constrained as you are in something like the applications menu – where there’s a fine balance between how many icons can be displayed at one time and how easy it is to hit the icons, large circular hitareas makes it easier for users to touch the desired icons and avoid accidentally hitting nearby icons.

“A grid is the most efficient method to pack as many squares into an area as possible, but not for circles. The mathematically most efficient method to arrange non-overlapping circles – a problem called “sphere packing” – is actually and as you might have guessed by now, hexagonal.”

I have my qualms with WM6.5, along with a healthy dose of “wait and see” skepticism. But I’m also ever watchful for writers defending Microsoft’s mobile choices, if for no other reason than they are so often sitting (and typing) alone.  I like the honeycomb, at least on paper, but irrespective of personal likes or dislikes, Long mounts an excellent defense of its use.