Preventing unintentional user activation of user interface elements

1. A method comprising:

while a computing device is in a limited-access state, outputting, by the computing device and for display, a user interface element in an unselected state;

responsive to receiving an indication, by the computing device, of a first user input at a region of a presence-sensitive input device that corresponds to at least a portion of the user interface element as displayed, transitioning, by the computing device, the user interface element from the unselected state to a selected state, including altering, by the computing device, a visual appearance of the user interface element to indicate that the user interface element is selected;

responsive to determining that the computing device has not received an indication of a second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device within a predefined period of time subsequent to receiving the indication of the first user input, transitioning, by the computing device, the user interface element from the selected state to the unselected state, including altering, by the computing device, the visual appearance of the user interface element to indicate that the user interface element is unselected; and

responsive to determining that the computing device has received the indication of the second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device while the user interface element is in the selected state and within the predefined period of time subsequent to receiving the indication of the first user input, activating, by the computing device, the user interface element,

wherein at least one of the first user input or the second user input comprises a tap gesture.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second user input is within a threshold distance on the presence-sensitive input device from a location of the first user input on the presence-sensitive input device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the first user input comprises an indication of a drag gesture.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein altering, by the computing device, a visual appearance of the user interface element to indicate that the user interface element is selected further comprises:

altering at least one of: a size of the user interface element, an opacity of the user interface element, a color of the user interface element, a style of text of the user interface element, an icon within the user interface element, and a darkness of the user interface element.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein altering, by the computing device, a visual appearance of the user interface element to indicate that the user interface element is selected further comprises:

outputting a second user interface element at the region of the presence-sensitive input device that corresponds to at least the portion of the user interface element as displayed.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining that the computing device has received the indication of the second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device within the predefined period of time subsequent to receiving the indication of the first user input further comprises:

determining that the computing device has received the indication of the second user input at a second region of the presence-sensitive input device that corresponds to at least a portion of the second user interface element as displayed.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein activating, by the computing device, the user interface element further comprises:

performing, by the computing device, an action associated with the user interface element.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein performing, by the computing device, the action associated with the user interface element comprises launching, by the computing device, an application associated with the user interface element.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein performing, by the computing device, the action associated with the user interface element comprises outputting, by the computing device, data associated with the user interface element that is additional to data included in the user interface element.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein activating, by the computing device, the user interface element further comprises:

outputting, by the computing device and for display, an authentication interface;

receiving, by the computing device, an indication of a third user input; and

determining, by the computing device, whether to authorize performance of an action associated with the user interface element based at least in part on the third user input.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface element is a visual alert indicative of receipt of notification data.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the computing device has received the indication of the second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device within the predefined period of time subsequent to receiving the indication of the first user input further comprises:

determining that the computing device has not received an indication of a third user input outside of the region of the presence-sensitive input device prior to receiving the indication of the second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein altering, by the computing device, the visual appearance of the user interface element to indicate that the user interface element is unselected comprises:

altering, by the computing device, the visual appearance of the user interface element so that the visual appearance is the same as the visual appearance of the user interface element prior to the selection of the user interface element.

14. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor of a computing device to:

while the computing device is in a limited-access state, output, for display, a user interface element in an unselected state;

responsive to receiving an indication of a first user input at a region of a presence-sensitive input device that corresponds to at least a portion of the user interface element as displayed, transition the user interface element from the unselected state to a selected state, including alter the visual appearance of the user interface element to indicate that the user interface element is selected;

responsive to determining that the computing device has not received an indication of a second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device within a predefined period of time subsequent to receiving the indication of the first user input, transition the user interface element from the selected state to the unselected state, including alter the visual appearance of the user interface element so that the visual appearance of the user interface element is identical to the visual appearance of the user interface element prior to the selection of the user interface element; and

responsive to determining that the computing device has received the indication of the second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device while the user interface element is in the selected state and within the predefined period of time subsequent to receiving the indication of the first user input, perform an action associated with the user interface element;

wherein at least one of the first user input and the second user input comprises a tap gesture.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the second user input is within a threshold distance on the presence-sensitive input device from a location of the first user input on the presence-sensitive input device.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor of the computing device to alter the visual appearance of the user interface element to indicate that the user interface element is selected further comprises:

instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to output a second user interface element at the region of the presence-sensitive input device that corresponds to at least the portion of the user interface element as displayed.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein determine that the computing device has received the indication of the second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device within the predefined period of time subsequent to receiving the indication of the first user input further comprises:

instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to determine that the computing device has received the indication of the second user input at a second region of the presence-sensitive input device that corresponds to at least a portion of the second user interface element as displayed.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor of the computing device to determine that the computing device has received the indication of the second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device within the predefined period of time subsequent to receiving the indication of the first user input further comprises:

instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to determine that the computing device has not received an indication of a third user input outside of the region of the presence-sensitive input device prior to receiving the indication of the second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device.

19. A computing system comprising:

at least one processor;

a presence-sensitive input device; and

at least one module operable by the at least one processor to:

while the computing system is in a limited-access state, output, for display, a user interface element in an unselected state;

responsive to receiving an indication, by a computing device, of a first user input at a region of the presence-sensitive input device that corresponds to at least a portion of the user interface element as displayed, transition the user interface element from the unselected state to a selected state, including alter the visual appearance of the user interface element to indicate that the user interface element is selected;

responsive to determining that the computing system has not received an indication of a second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device within a predefined period of time subsequent to receiving the indication of the first user input, transition the user interface element from the selected state to the unselected state, including alter the visual appearance of the user interface element to indicate that the user interface element is unselected; and

responsive to determining that the computing system has received the indication of the second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device while the user interface element is in the selected state and within the predefined period of time subsequent to receiving the indication of the first user input, perform an action associated with the user interface element;

wherein at least one of the first user input and the second user input comprises a tap gesture.

20. The computing system of claim 19 , wherein the second user input is within a threshold distance on the presence-sensitive input device from a location of the first user input on the presence-sensitive input device.

21. The computing system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one module is further operable by the at least one processor to:

determine that the computing device has not received an indication of a third user input outside of the region of the presence-sensitive input device prior to receiving the indication of the second user input at the region of the presence-sensitive input device.

22. The computing system of claim 19 , wherein the indication of the first user input comprises an indication of a drag gesture.

23. The computing system of claim 19 , wherein the user interface element is a visual alert indicative of receipt of notification data.