Described herein are techniques that offer a class of user-interaction styles for indirect user interaction with a two-dimensional virtual space (“desktop”) using touch-sensitive control surface of a user-input device (such as a mobile phone). Some described techniques enable a user to point, pan and scale within a large virtual two-dimensional space with input from a touch surface of a handheld device, with the output of the user interaction being rendered on a visual display unit (other than the touch surface).