Mobile design

The Design and Display of Simple Interactions on Mobile Devices

Are we re-inventing everything now it's mobile?

"Users visit mobile sites not only to consume content, but to get things done. Let's take air travel as an example: tasks that users often find themselves performing on an airline company's mobile site include checking flight status, checking in for a particular flight, and searching for and booking a flight. How does mobile user interface design support task completion? What are the optimal ways of communicating and displaying interactions on mobile sites? With the aim of discovering optimal ways of designing simple interactions on mobile devices, I examined the task of checking flight status. I'm hoping that my analysis sheds some light on this topic."

(Shanshan Ma a.k.a. @shanshanma ~ UXmatters)

Posted on November 21, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile UX Sharpens Usability Guidelines

Usabilty guidelines are just heuristics, for desktop, laptop and mobile.

"Many guidelines are similar for mobile and desktop design, but their mobile interpretation is much more unforgiving."

(Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted on November 07, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile Content: If in Doubt, Leave It Out

Less screen estate, higher constraints on publication.

"Writing for mobile readers requires even harsher editing than writing for the Web. Mobile use implies less patience for filler copy."

(Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted on October 10, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile Usability Update

"The user experience of mobile websites and apps has improved since our last research, but we still have far to go. A dedicated mobile site is a must, and apps get even higher usability scores."

(Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted on September 26, 2011 | Permalink

Does context really matter for mobile design?

Always loves to go for counter-intuitive argumentations.

"Pick up most books about building web sites or products for mobile and you'll hear a common refrain extolling you to pay attention to the mobile context. Usually this means paying attention to the fact that people using mobile phones are likely to be on the go, have limited attention, and slow Internet connections. This may have been true in the past, but data suggests that this behavior is changing: 93% of smartphone owners use their smartphones while at home, 62% of people use their mobile phone while watching television, 69% use mobile while shopping, 39% of smartphone owners use their devices in the bathroom."

(Small Surfaces)

Posted on September 06, 2011 | Permalink

Why Separate Mobile & Desktop Web Pages?

So, there is much more involved with the languages of the Web than meets the eye.

"As use of mobile devices continues to skyrocket across the globe, we're seeing more ways to tackle the challenge of creating great Web experiences across multiple devices. But which approach is right for any given project? In an effort to help answer that question, I've compiled the reasons we opted to use a dual (separate mobile and desktop) template system to build our start-up."

(Luke Wroblewski a.k.a. @LukeW)

Posted on September 01, 2011 | Permalink

Why Mobile UX Is More Than Users On-The-Go

I love the phrase "Jakob Nielsen has long been at the forefront of information architecture innovation."

"It's a common misconception that UX for mobile is all about creating something for users on-the-go - users with little time, checking in on their mobile on the train or at the bus stop waiting for a bus. But today's mobile user is so much more than that, with the rise in tablet usage further contributing to the growth and variety of their needs. No longer can UX practitioners expect to satisfy the mobile user with added pinch-and-zoom functionality or bigger call-to-action buttons; these things are expected, and don't improve UX. So as mobile use continues to grow in popularity and capability, how can we better appeal to a mobile audience?"

(Laura Hampton ~ UX Magazine)

Posted on July 25, 2011 | Permalink

Why WSJ Mobile App Gets ** Customer Reviews

"A confusing startup screen that offends existing subscribers dooms The Wall Street Journal's iPhone app to low ratings."

(Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted on July 05, 2011 | Permalink

Web apps v native apps v mobile sites: a guide

"In two year's time mobile phones will overtake computers as the most popular device for web browsing, John Barnes, managing director of digital and tech at Incisive Media, told delegates at the Mobile Media Strategies day. Users expect a seamless experience whether they are accessing websites on a Android device, a BlackBerry, iPhone, tablet, laptop or desktop."

(Sarah Marshall ~ Journalism)

Posted on June 21, 2011 | Permalink

Where are the Mobile First Responsive Web Designs?

"Mobile first design is primarily about the starting point. After a site is complete, how can I tell whether or not the developer started from the mobile and built up to desktop or started from the desktop and whittled down to mobile? I didn't want to have to tear apart over a hundred sites in the Mediaqueri.es gallery to find the handful of mobile first sites. I needed some way to narrow the number of sites I cared about to some sort of manageable number."

(Jason Grigsby a.k.a. @grigs ~ Cloud Four)
courtesy of lukew

Posted on June 08, 2011 | Permalink

Responsive Web Design or Separate Mobile Site?

"Religion, nationalism, and sports-team rivalries? They can't compare to the passion of a nerd's technical conviction. And so kerfuffles result. Well-intentioned zeal leads to distracting dustups. Alas, complex problems rarely resolve themselves into neat black-and-white principles. The only principle that ever seems reliable is drearily unsatisfying: 'it depends'. In the mobile world, we have the persistent and circular debate over whether the mobile web should be powered by the very same sites and webpages that render the desktop web."

(Josh Clark a.k.a. @globalmoxie ~ Global Moxie)

Posted on May 26, 2011 | Permalink

Uncovering Context With Mobile Diary Studies

"Mobile user research can no longer afford to be confined by physical space and geographic boundaries. People are on the move. If we as researchers are to to understand their true behaviors, we need a robust toolset to meet them where they are and understand where they are going."

(Punchcut Perspectives)

Posted on May 25, 2011 | Permalink

Three Layers of Mobile User Experience

"In comparison to traditional cell phones, smartphones do a much better job of letting users stay connected on the go. They have bigger screens and higher-resolution displays, and their industrial design is more fashionable. Common features of smartphones include, but are not limited to touchscreens, high-megapixel cameras, global positioning systems (GPSs), and many gaming and entertainment options. Smartphones enable people to engage in a wide range of activities, including communication, entertainment, personal-information management, and social networking."

(Shanshan Ma a.k.a. @shanshanma ~ UXmatters)

Posted on May 24, 2011 | Permalink

Imaginary Interfaces

"Screen-less wearable devices allow for the smallest form factor and thus the maximum mobility. However, current screen-less devices only support buttons and gestures. Pointing is not supported because users have nothing to point at. However, we challenge the notion that spatial interaction requires a screen and propose a method for bringing spatial interaction to screen-less devices. We present Imaginary Interfaces, screen-less devices that allow users to perform spatial interaction with empty hands and without visual feedback. Unlike projection-based solutions, such as Sixth Sense, all visual 'feedback' takes place in the user's imagination. Users define the origin of an imaginary space by forming an L-shaped coordinate cross with their non-dominant hand. Users then point and draw with their dominant hand in the resulting space."

(Hasso Plattner Institute)

Posted on May 24, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile Prototyping Essentials

"Last week, I presented the following talk on Mobile Prototyping at Web Directions Unplugged in Seattle. It was a great opportunity to share content from my latest chapter of The Mobile Frontier on prototyping. Thanks to John Allsopp, Maxine Sherrin, and Brian Fling for including me in such an inspiring event."

(Rachel Hinman a.k.a. @Hinman)

Posted on May 24, 2011 | Permalink

Designing Maps Applications for Usability on Mobile and Desktop

"Maps API applications are accessed on desktop and mobile devices of many shapes and sizes. Each application has unique goals for conveying information effectively and for facilitating user interactions. Learn how to improve user experience by optimizing the presentation of your map and data and by thoughtful user interface design."

(Luke Mahé, Jez Fletcher, Justin O'Beirne ~ Google I/O sessions)

Posted on May 23, 2011 | Permalink

iPad Usability: First Findings From User Testing

"iPad apps are much improved, but new usability problems have emerged, such as swipe ambiguity and navigation overload."

(Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted on May 23, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile Context Revisited

"Mobile context has been overblown. It is device capabilities and constraints plus the fact that mobile devices are with you anywhere and everywhere. But those factors are important enough that they force us to rethink Web design."

(Luke Wroblewski a.k.a. @lukew)

Posted on May 19, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile & UX: A Perfect Storm

"In his presentation at at Mobilism in Amsterdam, Netherlands Jared Spool outlined four major forces driving the value and visibility of design in Web-based applications. Here are my notes from his talk." (LukeW writings)

Posted on May 17, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile Application Development: Web vs. Native

"In this article, we discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of both Web and native approaches, with special attention to areas where the gap is closing between Web technologies and their native counterparts." (Andre Charland and Brian LeRoux ~ ACM Queue) courtesy of janjursa

Posted on April 18, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile Design and Development: Practical Concepts and Techniques for Creating Mobile Sites and Web Apps

Free for anyone to read - "In the book I share my advice and experience working with publishing content to mobile devices from the past decade and discuss what I think will be important in the next decade of mobile and the web. Even though mobile is one of the fastest growing industries on the planet with things changing every day, I spent a considerable amount of thought and time to try to fill the book with timeless advice that isn't specific to a particular platform or en vogue device." (Brian Fling)

Posted on March 29, 2011 | Permalink

Designing For The Future Web

"In this article, we'll look at what the future Web might look like and how we can adapt our current skills to this new environment, as well as how to create fluid websites that are built around a consistent core and that adapt to the limitations and features of the device on which they are viewed. We'll also look at how our conceptual approach to designing websites should evolve: designing from the simplest design upwards, and not from the richest website down." (James Gardner ~ Smashing Magazine)

Posted on March 29, 2011 | Permalink

Optimizing a Screen for Mobile Use

"A single mobile screen with almost no features still required 10 design changes to meet usability guidelines for mobile websites." (Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted on March 28, 2011 | Permalink

Considerations for Mobile Design (Parts 1-3)

"The three parts of the series were split into the following segments: Part 1: Speed (The introduction to the series identified constraints in mobile design imposed by bandwidth, download and upload speeds.); Part 2: Dimensions (This section attempts to establish common limitations across groups of devices based on resolution and physical size. In addition, solutions for serving specific styles to groups of devices are offered, and analyzed.); Part 3: Behavior (Perhaps the least complete of the sections, this article attempts to show how users behave differently on handheld devices compared to desktops. At the same time, this area probably interests me most, but I believe much more testing will need to be done in regard to how gesture-based interfaces can be used in an acceptable way before the ideas explored here become more relevant.)" (David Leggett)

Posted on March 23, 2011 | Permalink

Ten Ways Mobile Sites Are Different From Desktop Web Sites

"Many believe the basic principles and guidelines that are applicable in the design of Web sites should still apply when designing for mobile platforms. After all, Web design has evolved from basic, text-based HTML pages into today's Web standards. So, we might expect that mobile sites that follow the same guidelines could easily reach the same level of success with users that desktop Web sites have achieved." (Shanshan Ma ~ UXmatters)

Posted on March 21, 2011 | Permalink

App Madness & The Open Web

"Web content is publishing: we've been saying it for awhile now, and it's starting to sink in. And if everyone is a publisher, then we—content strategists and other people who specialize in content work—should be able to advise our clients on their publishing plans, or at least those that cross into the online world. We’ve done so before, in the long push to demonstrate that the web isn’t the same as print, and that dumping print content into a web page serves neither user nor publisher. But in the last two years, the online publishing landscape has undergone a major change, both in perception and reality." (Clinton Forry ~ Confab 2011 blog)

Posted on March 09, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile Content Is Twice as Difficult

"When reading from an iPhone-sized screen, comprehension scores for complex Web content were 48% of desktop monitor scores." (Jakob Nielsen ~ Alertbox)

Posted on February 27, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile Design Patterns: Interaction Models

"A model describing the method of user interaction with a device and its UI. Mobile devices typically use one of two models—direct or indirect manipulation. More recently, devices have been designed which also respond to gestural interactions." (Forum Nokia)

Posted on February 22, 2011 | Permalink

Design Strategies for Brand Landing Pages on Mobile Devices

"On the desktop Web, ecommerce landing pages get a bum rap—sometimes well deserved. Laden with ads and gimmicks, pushing items with higher markups, and confusing customers with complicated information architectures, these marketing monstrosities typically strongly underperform the search results pages from a simple keyword search. However, passing a death sentence on all landing pages may be premature. On the small screens of mobile devices, well-designed landing pages can provide a much better experience than keyword search results. Currently, few mobile sites use landing pages, which makes them the next big mobile ecommerce opportunity." (Greg Nudelman ~ UXmatters)

Posted on February 21, 2011 | Permalink

UX Benefits to Building Mobile Web Apps

"(...) there are many business benefits to building HTML5 mobile apps, but few, if any, user experience benefits." (LukeW)

Posted on February 03, 2011 | Permalink

When & Where Are People Using Mobile Devices?

"It's hard to find advice about mobile design that doesn't emphasize the importance of context. While many people are quick to point out understanding mobile context is key to delivering a great mobile experience, few define context explicitly enough to make it actionable." (Luke Wroblewski)

Posted on February 01, 2011 | Permalink

Nokia design head speaks about mobile UX trends

"Marko Ahtisaari speaks about existing and emerging design patterns for mobile devices. He says that the iOS design pattern is very well executed but very constrained (...); it's the almost perfect rendition of a superlinear, application-centric design model." (Gabriel White ~ Small Surfaces)

Posted on January 26, 2011 | Permalink

Mobile UX Essentials

"At the BAYCHI Interaction Design event tonight, Rachel Hinman (Nokia) talked about where and how to begin designing for mobile in her presentation. Here's my notes from her talk." (Luke Wroblewski)

Posted on January 20, 2011 | Permalink

Asleep and Awake

"If this device is to replace, for many people, a book, it needs to manifest some of those qualities: safe, nonthreatening, no more distracting than a few hundred of pages of text intend to be. It needs a quiet confidence to make you trust it more." (Tom Armitage ~ BERG London)

Posted on January 18, 2011 | Permalink

Device Classes & Responsive Design

"While the task of designing for multiple devices can be daunting, two techniques can help make the process more manageable: defining device classes and designing/building responsively for devices within each class." (Luke Wroblewski)

Posted on January 18, 2011 | Permalink

Designing for the Mobile Web: Special Considerations

"(...) I'll cover design for complex contexts of use in my discussion of constraints on mobile Web sites. In practice, being aware of these constraints lets us approach these problems with caution and come up with better design solutions for mobile devices. Based on my analysis of more than 20 mobile Web sites, I'll point out some ways of working within these constraints." (Shanshan Ma ~ UXmatters)

Posted on January 17, 2011 | Permalink

Storyboarding iPad Transitions

"If your clients are not yet asking you to design transitions, they will likely do that on your next project. Transitions are hot, and not just because they entertain the eye. In confined mobile computing interfaces, on tablet devices or in complex virtual environments, transitions are an authentic, minimalist way of enabling way-finding, displaying system state and exposing crucial functionality - in short, they are key in creating a superior user experience." (Greg Nudelman ~ Boxes and Arrows)

Posted on January 07, 2011 | Permalink

Emergent Computing Paradigms

"Curious if these three emergent paradigms make sense to you: organic material, infrastructure, and social currency." (Rachel Hinman ~ Rosenfeld Media)

Posted on January 03, 2011 | Permalink

Accessibility First for a Better User Experience for All

"All of these problems affect their general usability for people without disabilities, though not as severely. The more crowded or complex a screen, the harder it is to understand it and learn to use it effectively. Just as making hard decisions about priorities for a mobile user interface can pay off in a better Web version of an application, designing for better accessibility can make a product more usable for everyone." (Whitney Quesenbery ~ UXmatters)

Posted on December 20, 2010 | Permalink

W3C Recommendation: Mobile Web Application Best Practices

"The goal of this document is to aid the development of rich and dynamic mobile Web applications. It collects the most relevant engineering practices, promoting those that enable a better user experience and warning against those that are considered harmful." (World Wide Web Consortium)

Posted on December 15, 2010 | Permalink

Social Serendipity

"The explosion of communication technologies has made long-range interactions between individuals increasingly easy. Paradoxically this 'virtual' shrinking of the world, through constant access to contacts across the globe, often isolates us from those in our immediate vicinity. However, as mobile phone evolve to break computing free of the desktop and firmly roots itself in daily life, we have an opportunity to mediate, mine, and now even augment our current social reality. We are beginning to see advances in communication technology that will enable face-to-face connections between strangers and make a profound impact on our society." (MIT Reality Mining)

Posted on December 07, 2010 | Permalink

Usability for Handheld Devices Versus Computers

"Mobility will answer these questions and more—questions about mobile user experience and user interface design for small, handheld, mobile devices." (Shanshan Ma ~ UXmatters)

Posted on November 01, 2010 | Permalink

Going Mobile

"In this edition of Ask UXmatters - which is the first in a two-part series focusing on user experience design for mobile devices - our experts discuss designing for a wide range of devices with different screen sizes and how to promote your mobile application." (UXmatters.com)

Posted on October 19, 2010 | Permalink

Windows Phone 7 Series UI Design & Interaction Guide

"A clear, straightforward design not only makes an application legible, it encourages usage. This guide will provide design knowledge and fundamentals for this type of UI development. We highly recommend that developers adopt the Metro design style whenever possible. Although requirements may vary based on the application, paralleling this experience will create a more consistent, fluid UI experience from the custom and built-in application view." (The Windows Phone Developers Blog)

Posted on October 15, 2010 | Permalink

Design for Mobile: Future of Mobile UX

"The future of mobile isn't on the phone. It requires being aware of environments. People are more than an eyeball and a finger. (...) When investigating, predicting, developing new technologies, laughter and delight signal a business opportunity." (Luke Wroblewski)

Posted on September 22, 2010 | Permalink

What comes after mobile

"Matt Webb talks about how slightly smart things have invaded our lives over the past years. People have been talking about artificial intelligence for years but the promise has never really come through. Matt shows how the AI promise has transformed and now seems to be coming to us in the form of simple toys instead of complex machines. But this talks is about much more then AI, Matt also introduces chatty interfaces and hard math for trivial things." (Matt Webb ~ Mobile Monday Amsterdam)

Posted on September 20, 2010 | Permalink

The mobile experience is nothing like desktop

"I put together this list of typical differentiating attributes of the two experiences. It's not 100% correct because in some cases the reverse will be true … for example people using desktop computers are often in a hurry and don't have time to waste and sometimes people using mobile phones are sitting in a hospital with hours to spare. But it's a reasonable guide that shows how polarised the experiences are." (Nathanael Boehm)

Posted on September 14, 2010 | Permalink

Mobile HCI 2010 Tutorials

"After more than 10 years of Mobile HCI, providing an overview of the state of the art becomes more and more challenging. During the tutorial days of Mobile HCI 2008 & 2009, a number of well-known researchers in Mobile HCI gave overviews of the state of the art and cover many of the relevant topics. The tutorials also introduced the must read papers in this domain. The audience varied and included new students starting a PhD in Mobile HCI, practitioners wanting a quick survey of the state of the art and educators wishing to get an overview of Mobile HCI for their own teaching." (Enrico Rukzio) - courtesy of Wolf Noeding

Posted on September 12, 2010 | Permalink

Usability for Mobile Devices

"The mobile space is the new Wild West of technology. Much like the Web during the 1990s, mobile is the new domain at the forefront of innovation. Users are discovering new capabilities, integrating them with their daily lives, and experiencing new interaction models." (Demetrius Madrigal and Bryan McClain ~ UXmatters)

Posted on September 06, 2010 | Permalink

Future os Screens: Experience video

"Capacitive screens has now become a commodity for touch screen devices. Screen technology is now taking the next leap and the coming years imagination is the only thing stopping us." (Mobile User Interface Blog)

Posted on September 01, 2010 | Permalink

Design Patterns for Mobile Faceted Search: Part II

"This month's column covers strategies for making people more aware of the filtering options that are available to them, as well as methods of improving transitions between the various states a user encounters in a search user interface." (Greg Nudelman ~ UXmatters)

Posted on May 03, 2010 | Permalink

Mobile Internet Will Soon Overtake Fixed Internet

"And what does Mary Meeker see in her crystal ball this year? Two overwhelming trends that will affect consumers, the hardware/infrastructure industry and the commercial potential of the web: mobile and social networking." (Mathew Ingram - GigaCom)

Posted on April 13, 2010 | Permalink

Design Patterns for Mobile Faceted Search: Part I

"This column covers design patterns for maximizing the real estate available for search results, while the next will cover strategies for making people aware of filtering options." (Greg Nudelman - UXmatters)

Posted on April 05, 2010 | Permalink

iPad Application Design

"The iPad may be a larger version of the iPhone in terms of the hardware and operating system, but treating it as the same device would be foolish. It turns out that increasing the display size of touch-screen hardware can transform it into an entirely new class of device. The iPad is a productivity platform in a way that the iPhone rightly never tried to be." (Matt Legend Gemmell)

Posted on March 08, 2010 | Permalink

Designing Mobile Search: Turning Limitations into Opportunities

"Thinking of porting your Web finding experience to iPhone, Android, or Windows Mobile? Just forget about the fact that these devices are basically full-featured computers with tiny screens. Having gone through this design exercise a few times, I have realized that designing a great mobile finding experience requires a way of thinking that is quite different from our typical approach to designing search for Web or desktop applications. To put it simply, designing a mobile finding experience requires thinking in terms of turning limitations into opportunities. In this column, I'll discuss some of the limitations of mobile platforms, as well as the opportunities they afford, and share a few design ideas that might come in handy for your own projects." (Greg Nudelman - UXmatters)

Posted on March 08, 2010 | Permalink

Internet on Mobiles: Evolution of Usability and User Experience

"This dissertation has its focus in the area of human-computer interaction research and practices. The overall goal of my research has been to improve the usability and the user experience of mobile Internet services. My research has sought answers to questions relevant in service development process. I have sought answers mostly from a human factors perspective, but have also taken the elements form technology and business infrastructure into consideration." (Anne Kaikkonen)

Posted on March 01, 2010 | Permalink

BBC Online: Our mobile future

"We are at a similar turning point in the internet age. We still, in the most part, define our digital agenda through the lens of broadcast output, and rightly so. But times are changing, and the internet is taking its place alongside TV and radio as a third platform in its own right." (Erik Huggers - BBC Internet Blog)

Posted on February 17, 2010 | Permalink

iPhone Apps Need Low Starting Hurdles

"Most mobile applications are used only intermittently, so they must be especially easy during initial use. In particular, upfront registration shouldn't be required before users experience an app's benefits." (Jakob Nielsen - Alertbox)

Posted on February 10, 2010 | Permalink

Four Key Principles of Mobile User Experience Design

"I do not presume these following principles to be all-inclusive or ultimately authoritative; rather, it is my hope that they are received as an anecdotal summation of my findings that might then spark and contribute to the larger conversation and consensus-building process." (Dakota Reese Brown - Boxes and Arrows)

Posted on November 19, 2009 | Permalink

Restoring Spring to iPhone/iPod Touch Springboard

"All of these changes work within the current Springboard metaphor and should not present any insurmountable programming challenges. Certainly vertical scroll is most critical and should be implemented within the next couple of months if sales are not to be further limited. The rest can follow. These changes are also designed so that the new user or disinterested user will enjoy the same Springboard experience as today, while the 'power-buyer' can regain control of their device. Because iPhone/iPod Touch apps, at least at this point, all work one-at-a-time, adding ten or even twenty times as many apps to an iPhone/iPod Touch should have no effect on its reliability, etc. The only effect of these changes will be that both Apple and its developers make a whole bunch more money and that users will be having a whole bunch more fun, making their personal Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that much more beloved and indispensable." (Bruce Tognazinni - AskTog) - courtesy of nicotenhoor

Posted on October 11, 2009 | Permalink

How Mobile is Changing Design

"Mobile is evolving, the web is adapting, and these two colossal worlds are about to collide to create something new. In order to design the experiences of this new contextual web, we need to change the way we look at design. In this talk Brian will provide his insights on some of the emerging trends in mobile design and share his thoughts on how we will design the interfaces of tomorrow." (Brian Fling - Huffduffer)

Posted on October 05, 2009 | Permalink

Warren Buffett Cell Phone Skills: Did They Doom Lehman?

"Fast forward 10 months. Buffett, who admits he never has really learned the basics of his cell phone, asked his daughter Susan about a little indicator he had noticed on the screen: 'Can you figure out what's on there?' It turned out to be the message from Diamond that he had been waiting for that night." (WSJ)

Posted on September 17, 2009 | Permalink

Playfulness, Usability, & Context: The Three Pillars of a Delightful User Experience

"When I bought my first iPhone almost three months ago, I also acquired a new obsession with the role of playfulness in user experience design." (Fred Bleecher) - courtesy of hotstrudel

Posted on September 17, 2009 | Permalink

Why can't we integrate sustainable design with mobile phones?

"Mobile phones have become an integral part of our daily life. Retrieving information has never been easier with current phones offering an array of features such as GPS and Internet access. However, a new mobile phone is released almost every week, and it has become common practice to get a new mobile phone at the end of every year’s contract since they are often offered as free with the new contract. But what then happens to the mobile phone you are upgrading from? Many are forgotten, most are thrown away, very few are recycled. Discarding such a high-tech piece of equipment as though it were as easy as balling up a piece of paper and throwing it in the bin surely cannot be sensible. Why do mobile phones only last for just over a year, and what are the effects of all of this high-tech electronic waste that we are generating?" (Peter van Lanschot)

Posted on August 21, 2009 | Permalink

The iPhone is Not Easy to Use: A New Direction for User Experience Design

"I live and breathe user experience design, and yet it took me two years to get myself the device referenced by almost every single presentation about user experience since 2007... Apple's iPhone. My reasons were very specific and perhaps boring, but what is interesting is the perspective this wait has afforded me. Since it was released, the iPhone has grabbed an astonishing share of mobile Web traffic, been regarded as a 'game-changer' in both the design and business worlds, and has even been referred to as the 'Jesus Phone'. Now that I've owned one for two weeks I've developed a different perspective. The iPhone is surprisingly difficult to use, but it sure is fun! And that is why it's a game-changer." (Fred Beecher - Johnny Holland Magazine)

Posted on August 18, 2009 | Permalink

Mobile User Experience Research: Challenges, Methods & Tools

"The main goal of the workshop is to bring together researchers from industry and academia, designers, and creators of mobile research tools to discuss methods, tools and infrastructure for mobile UX and HCI research. To achieve this goal, we plan to provide a forum for participants to share past experiences, success stories, failures and associated learnings, as well as recurring problems; to jointly prioritize these; to map out the dimensions required of mobile research tools, and translate some of these into draft requirements and low-fidelity prototypes for novel research tools." (CHI '09 Workshop)

Posted on August 12, 2009 | Permalink

Mobile Usability

"In user testing, website use on mobile devices got very low scores, especially when users accessed 'full' sites that weren't designed for mobile." (Jakob Nielsen - Alertbox)

Posted on August 04, 2009 | Permalink

Preso: Sketching the Mobile User Experience

"If you're a web or interactive designer, chances are sometime very soon you will be asked to design something for a mobile phone. This presentation will introduce rapid and flexible design and prototyping techniques to help you test early, test often and create great mobile experiences." (Bryan Rieger - Yiibu)

Posted on June 09, 2009 | Permalink

Fjord 09 Mobile Trends

"From the 'Android invasion' to the 'War for the world': Fjord presents 9 mobile trends for 09. This report focuses on technologies and behaviors that have been building up over the last few years and are going to break through to the mainstream in 2009." - (Fjord)

Posted on May 11, 2009 | Permalink

Mobile Web 2009 = Desktop Web 1998

"Mobile phone users struggle mightily to use websites, even on high-end devices. To solve the problems, websites should provide special mobile versions." - (Jakob Nielsen - Alertbox)

Posted on February 17, 2009 | Permalink

Touchscreens no substitute for good user experience

"Touch interactions are fundamentally different from those performed with keys or even a stylus, and will often require a completely revised user interface. Nokia, which has been busily skinning Series 60 in preparation for the introduction of touchscreen products, would do well to take note." (MEX) - courtesy of kicker

Posted on February 02, 2009 | Permalink

Three Mobile User Experience Trends to Watch in 2009

"2008 was truly a milestone year for mobile. In an industry that has long felt downtrodden by a multitude of technical and business constraints, wild and exciting inflection points burst like fireworks across the mobile landscape, bringing visibility to our industry and renewing our hopes." (Rachel Hinman - Adaptive Path blog)

Posted on January 08, 2009 | Permalink

Bruce Sterling preaching in the Red Hat

"In this nearly 27 minute video Bruce Sterling, a leading futurist, speaker, columnist and science fiction writer, shares his vision on where mobile is heading. Preaching his story from a somewhat unconventional place, the pulpit instead of the stage, he managed to silence the audience. Check the video to see what he had to say to the Mobile sinners." (Mobile Monday Amsterdam)

Posted on November 10, 2008 | Permalink

Keynote at MobileHCI2008: BJ Fogg - Mobile Miracle

"At the center of the talk was that prediction that mobile devices will be within 15 years the main technology for persuasion. He argued that mobile phones are the greatest invention of human kind – more important than the writing and transportation systems (e.g. planes, cars). He explained why mobile phones are so interesting based on three metaphors: heart, wrist watch, magic wand." (Albert Schmidt - User Interface Engineering)

Posted on September 04, 2008 | Permalink

MobileHCI 2008 Tutorial

"The conference on mobile human computer interaction (MobileHCI 2008) started today in Amsterdam with the tutorial and workshop day. (...) Have a look at the slides." (Albert Schmidt - User Interface Engineering)

Posted on September 04, 2008 | Permalink

The Mobile Internet and Mix Tapes

"The blue print of the Internet we experience today has been created and shaped strongly by the discipline of information architecture." (Rachel Hinman - Adaptive Path)

Posted on June 06, 2008 | Permalink

MoMoment MoMo#5 - Dan Armstrong

"Dan Armstrong, CTO of Rabo Mobiel, was the keynote speaker for Mobile Monday #5. During the keynote (duration 35.30) Dan tells more about what Rabo Mobiel is doing at this moment, looks forward to the projects planned for this year, and challenges the public with some of his ideas on what the environment looks like in 2012." (Mobile Monday Amsterdam)

Posted on April 09, 2008 | Permalink

Free iPhone usability report

"The results? The iPhone has introduced a new interaction paradigm to the world, in an uncompromising way that proves that 'less is more' when it comes to true user experience." (inUseFul.se)

Posted on February 28, 2008 | Permalink

Interface Design and the iPhone

"The iPhone platform elegantly solves the design problem of small screens by greatly intensifying the information resolution of each displayed page. Small screens, as on traditional cell phones, show very little information per screen, which in turn leads to deep hierarchies of stacked-up thin information--too often leaving users with 'Where am I?' puzzles. Better to have users looking over material adjacent in space rather than stacked in time." (Edward Tufte)

Posted on January 24, 2008 | Permalink

The 2008 Mobile User Experience Manifesto

"MEX is the two day strategy forum for the leading minds in mobile telecoms. The next event will be held in London on 27th - 28th May 2008. Join us at the conference to debate the Manifesto and set the customer experience agenda. - 1. Content itself will be the interface of the future (...)" (The PMN Mobile UX conference)

Posted on January 10, 2008 | Permalink

Workshop on Mobile Internet User Experience

Presentation slides on the workshop held September 9th, 2007 at the Singapore Polytechnic. (Nokia Research Center wiki)

Posted on November 01, 2007 | Permalink

iPhone Human Interface Guidelines

"Apple's iPhone presents a revolutionary user interface and interaction model. Users can view webpages, use web applications, and use built-in iPhone features, such as the email application, the iPod, and the digital camera, wherever they go. Safari on iPhone, a unique implementation of Safari, is the application users use to browse the web on both iPhone and iPod touch." (Apple Developer Connection) - courtesy of daringfireball

Posted on October 01, 2007 | Permalink

Mobile Social Play

"So I've been busy uploading stuff. The slides to my Reboot 9.0 talk are up at SlideShare. I uploaded a video recorded by Iskander with his N70 to Vimeo. Finally, since SlideShare still doesn’t import the notes that go with the slides in PowerPoint, I’ve also put up a big PDF (almost 50 MB)." (Kars Alfrink - Leapfrog)

Posted on June 07, 2007 | Permalink

Methods of Understanding and Designing For Mobile Communities

"Society is increasingly on the move, mobile devices are commonly being used to coordinate group actions, and group communication features are rapidly being added to existing technologies. Despite this, little is known about how mobile groups act, or how communications technologies should be designed to augment existing behaviour. This is partially due to minimal research being done on the topic, but also to the lack of research methods available to study the topic with. Mobile groups are challenging to study because of frequent and long-duration movement, frequent distribution, and the rapidly changing environments they operate within. To address these issues, this research focuses on methodological issues surrounding the development of mobile devices for mobile groups and communities. More specifically it addresses backpackers, who are a relevant example of this type of community. The research primarily explores the convergence of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) and the field of mobile device development. This enables the combination of emphasis on designing technologies for groups, social implications, mobile device design, and mobile settings." (Jeff Axup - Mobile Community Design)

Posted on April 26, 2007 | Permalink

Designing the Mobile User Experience

"One of our biggest challenges in designing mobile services has been our inability to connect with our customers. We're making the same mistakes we've made when designing for other media, but the constraints inherent in mobile devices exacerbate those mistakes. We can overcome this challenge by following the user-centered design process we've been advocating and using all along. We should do the user research that's necessary to understand what users need and deliver meaningful, valuable products and services that integrate well with and enhance our customers' lifestyles. Put simply, the opportunity for the mobile Web is huge, and UX professionals are the right people to help companies realize this opportunity. It's yours, take it." (Richard F. Cecil - UXmatters)

Posted on October 11, 2006 | Permalink

PERMID 2006: Papers and Slides

"Mobile devices have become a pervasive part of our everyday lives. People have mobile phones, smartphones and PDAs which they take with them almost everywhere. So far these mobile devices have been mostly used for phone calls, writing short messages and organizer functionalities. Today we see that the development of context-aware services for mobile phones which often take the user, her situation and location into account." (Enrico Rukzio et al.)

Posted on May 21, 2006 | Permalink

Deconstructing the Mobile Web

"The mobile user experience does not fit into the browser-like box within which people are conceiving its potential capabilities today. The sooner we conceive of mobile-computing paradigms along their own continuum—detached from the original evolution of the World Wide Web—the sooner we will enjoy the potential of a mobile-computing world." (Dirk Knemeyer - UXmatters)

Posted on May 09, 2006 | Permalink

Towards a Sociological Theory of the Mobile Phone

"(...) history shows that communication technologies are typically highly polyvalent tools that can change their major functions completely during time." (Hans Geser - Sociology of the Mobile Phone)

Posted on May 08, 2006 | Permalink

OzCHI Publication on Backpackers

"(...) a workshop paper and a short paper on backpackers and research methods for mobile groups." (Jeff Axup - Mobile Community Design)

Posted on November 29, 2005 | Permalink

Mobile Web Design: Tips & Techniques

"This article attempts to present technical advice on a superficial level. Some tips may surprise the reader; others may disappoint. But let's be clear about one thing: We're not aiming to publish a replete guide to advanced mobile development, but rather a starting point for mobile development - both practical and ambitious. Hence, a superficial treatment of the topic." (Cameron Moll - Authentic Boredom)

Posted on October 27, 2005 | Permalink

A Sense of Place: The Global and Local in Mobile Communication

"Issues of placelessness, the spatial and social relations created by television's emergence as a dominant medium, have been around since the mid-1980s. With the triumphant march of mobile telephony these issues today appear to gain new significance and are seen in a new light. Social science focussing on mobile communication increasingly recgnizes that the mobile telephone is not only a revolutionary instrument that connects people globally, it is also a powerful tool for connections on a more local scale: an organizer of life in small spaces and communities." (Kristóf Nyiri)

Posted on October 20, 2005 | Permalink

Usability-driven open platform for mobile government

"The main goal of USE-ME.GOV is to contribute to a Next-Generation Open Service Platform for mobile users that can be shared by networked authorities and institutions (e.g. on a regional scale) in terms of technical infrastructure, information (content) as well as a framework for commercial exploitation." (Contact use-me.gov) - courtesy of usabilitynews

Posted on October 12, 2005 | Permalink

Mixed Reality Check: Mobile User Experience in the age of Ubiconn 

"Today efficiency and effectiveness end up informing most design decisions (...) and in many cases rightly so (...) but leaving people missing a 'sense of delight' from their constant interactions with mobile connected devices." (Fabio Sergio - freegorifero)

Posted on September 08, 2005 | Permalink

Blogging over Las Vegas: Seven Challenges to our Shared Mobile Future

"How will we explain to our children that before, when you wanted to call someone, you needed to stand against a wall? Mobile phones today have become ubiquitous, embedded into the fabric of everyday life. They have become a mobile essential. If someone owns a mobile phone today it is likely to be one of the three things that she always carries with her, the other two being keys and some form of payment." (Marko Ahtisaari) - courtesy of purselipsquarejaw

Posted on September 06, 2005 | Permalink

Methods to the Madness

This is the second article in the four-part series. - “Neither praying nor cursing is likely to do a mobile site any good, especially if done in tandem." (Authentic Boredom) - courtesy of nickfinck

Posted on August 14, 2005 | Permalink

State of the Mobile Web

This is the first article in the four-part series on Mobile Web Design. - "(...) if we learned only one thing from the 'desktop web' standards movement in recent years, it's that even the most behemoth organizations listen if the wheel squeaks loudly enough. And where listening ears are found, there lies also the potential for change." (Authentic Boredom)

Posted on August 06, 2005 | Permalink

Towards a Sociology of the Mobile Phone

"Use of the mobile phone is an immensely significant social and cultural phenomenon. However, market hype and utopian dreams greatly exaggerate its importance. The fundamental issue for sociology is the process of change. Bound up with contemporary issues of change, the mobile phone is a prime object for sociological attention both at the macro and micro levels of analysis. This article considers the strengths and weaknesses of four methods for studying the sociality of the mobile phone (social demography; political economy; conversation, discourse and text analysis; and ethnography), the different kinds of knowledge they produce, and the interests they represent." (Jim McGuigan - Human Technology) - courtesy of annegalloway

Posted on June 21, 2005 | Permalink

The Culture of Mobility

"(...) a place where everyone can come to share their thoughts and make some sense of an increasingly mobile society. It aims to address the notion of mobility in the context of everyday life, calling on the experience of pioneers in various industries, and evaluating the past, present and future of connectivity." (nokia.com)

Posted on May 19, 2005 | Permalink

Designs on less complex mobiles

"What the industry should be coming up with are more innovative ways to get at these functions (...) in ways that understand the kinds of experiences people want. It is about simplicity through design." (BBC News Technology) - courtesy of lawrencelee

Posted on May 17, 2005 | Permalink

Mobile Web Initiative

Making Web access from a mobile device as simple, easy and convenient as Web access from a desktop device - "World Wide Web technologies have become the key enablers for access to the Internet through desktop and notebook computing platforms. Web technologies have the potential to play the same role for Internet access from mobile devices. However, today, mobile Web access suffers from interoperability and usability problems that make the Web difficult to use for most mobile phone subscribers. W3C's 'Mobile Web Initiative' (W3C MWI) proposes to address these issues through a concerted effort of key players in the mobile production chain, including authoring tool vendors, content providers, handset manufacturers, browser vendors and mobile operators." (W3C)

Posted on May 11, 2005 | Permalink

The Annoyance, Irritation, and Frustration of The Mobile Phone: A Design Challenge

"We are in real danger of a consumer backlash against annoying technologies. We already have seen the growth of mobile-phone free zones, of prohibition against phone use, camera use, camera phones, in all sort of public and private places. The mobile phone has been shown to be a dangerous distraction to the driver of an automobile, whether hands-free or not. If we do nothing to overcome these problems, then the benefits these technologies bring may very well be denied us because the social costs are simply too great. There are many sources of frustration or potential liability." (Donald A. Norman) - courtesy of usabilityviews

Posted on April 10, 2005 | Permalink

Mobile and Open: A Manifesto

"Only a cockeyed optimist would forecast an open, user-driven, entrepreneurial future for the mobile Internet. This should not prevent us from trying, however. Sometimes, envisioning the way things ought to be can inspire people to work at making it that way. That's what manifestos are for." (Howard Rheingold - TheFeature)

Posted on April 07, 2005 | Permalink

Advanced Handsets Need Advanced UIs

"As mobile phones become more capable, people are using them to store an increasingly wider variety and greater quantity of data. This raises a new problem for designers of handset user interfaces: how do you let owners find what they're looking for in a coherent and friendly manner?" (Tom Hume - TheFeature) - courtesy of lucdesk

Posted on April 07, 2005 | Permalink