Chanpio Park

Circle to Search

The gesture that made search part of the screen

Samsung + Google · 2023–2024

Circle to Search

Circle to Search lets you search anything on screen by drawing a circle around it. Google built the search experience. I led the Samsung side: choosing the entry gesture, designing the selection handler and its visual feedback, and building the onboarding that taught 50 million people to use it.

50Mmonthly active users, Samsung's most-used AI feature
34%of flagship users use it every day
80%less time to complete a visual search task in testing

Typing was the bottleneck

You see an unfamiliar spice on a cooking show, or a menu in another language. Searching for it means leaving the app, describing it in words, and coming back. In our search survey, 48% said typing queries was tedious and 21% said switching apps took too long.

Pointing a phone at a Japanese menu
An unfamiliar spice on a cooking show

Goals

  • Start a search without leaving what you're doing
  • Get results from a single interaction
  • Spend less time navigating and more time deciding

Finding the entry point

The entry gesture decides whether anyone finds the feature. I ran the brainstorms, built prototypes of three options, and concept-tested them.

Long-press side key

  • Quick and one-handed
  • Already reserved for another function
  • Awkward for left-handed users

Swipe up from corner

  • Quick and one-handed
  • Conflicts with the home gesture
  • Hard to remember
Chosen

Long-press home handle

  • Quick and one-handed
  • Always-visible cue
  • Small touch target

The head of design, engineering lead, and product planning aligned on the long-press of the home handle.

Prototypes of the three entry gestures.
Concept testing session

The selection handler

I mapped the whole gesture system on the device so other designers and stakeholders could see where the new interaction fit, then introduced a new component: the selection handler. A tinted scrim settles over the screen when you select something, pulling attention to what you circled.

Gesture blueprint for the system
Gesture blueprint, mapping Circle to Search against existing system gestures.
Selection handler component spec

Final design

Spot sneakers on Instagram, long-press the home handle, circle them, and see where to buy, without leaving the app.

From circle to shopping results

Getting people to find it

A gesture nobody knows about doesn't exist. I added a contextual tooltip that appears after someone touches the home handle 10 times without discovering the feature. The first version was text-heavy and got ignored. I cut it to a short visual prompt, and engagement with the feature rose.

Tooltip redesign: flick-up hint, first design, second design

Lesson learned

Build, test, and prove instead of debating.

Prototypes and real feedback ended arguments faster than any meeting could, and led to better design.