Singapore Mobile 2.0 & Ux Trends 2009: Scott Weiss

Introduction to Mobile 2.0 and Handset UX Trends: 2009-2010 Prepared for: NCS Public Presentation 23 March 2009 Prepared by: Scott Weiss, Executive Director

Not Mobile 2.0

Mobile 2.0

Social Components

Networking

Chat, instant messaging, commenting...

Uploading photos and text (user-generated content)

Presence

Localised Content

Awareness of place

Sharing of place content

AJAX

Highly interactive widgets

Animation

Exact placement of graphics & widgets

“ Same page” UI (rather than lots of round-trips)

Usability

Ease of use

By design

Know your user

Iterate designs before coding them

By research

Ask users what they like and do not like about your concept

Prototype the concept

Ask users to do things with the prototype

Observe their struggle and iterate the designs

Mobile + Social Networking = ?

Mobile Products in the Market

Nokia’s Ovi

Google’s Dodgeball

Facebook Mobile

Mobile web, SMS, and photo upload features

MySpace

Gypsii

gypsii.com/m

Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and S60-based location-aware social networking

BuzzCity’s MyGamma

http://mygamma.com/

WAP-enabled mobile social networking

Mobile Facebook

Three UI’s available:

Mobile application (native)

Mobile web site

Full web site, adapted to mobile

Mobile (native):

Attractive/clean

Out of date with Facebook account

No stickiness

Mobile Web:

Straightforward, sloppy

Fewer features than desktop site

No advertising

Desktop Adapted:

Messy, with high graphics

Most desktop features

Full advertising

Mobile Facebook

Mobile web site

Mobile (native):

Attractive/clean

No stickiness

Mobile Web:

No advertising

Desktop Adapted:

Full advertising

Mobile Facebook

Mobile web site

Mobile (native):

Attractive/clean

No stickiness

Mobile Web:

No advertising

Desktop Adapted:

Full advertising

Gypsii

Downloaded the link to my Blackberry

Couldn’t log in...

Gypsii: Sign In Gypsii: Surf Around

MyGamma Sign Up Content Sample

Signup was straightforward

First step was to text ‘GAMMA’ to 82772

Got the link, went to the web site.

The video tells the rest...

Mobile Social 2.0 Tips

Focus on the user experience first

What do mobile users want from a social networking product?

How will their use differ from their desktop use?

Design the mobile site

And test it thoroughly!

Then think about monetisation

Localised Content and Usability Relying on today’s slow and unreliable GPS can be frustrating for the user

Sometimes people want to localise where they are going rather than where they are

Allow user-entry of city, neighborhood, ZIP code, intersection, or selection from a map… Or even by landmark

A Particularly Good Example: AroundMe

AJAX and Usability Wizzy graphics and animation can hide deeper usability weaknesses

Pinch & Stretch Nightmare

Inconsistent UI

“ Back button” functionality inconsistently available

Contact editibility only occasionally available

Moving from section to section awkward

WebKit

http://webkit.org/

Used as the browser foundation by Safari, Nokia, Android...

Open Source application framework upon which a browser can be built

An open source project run by Apple

Components

WebCore

JavaScriptCore

Drosera

SunSpider

The WURFL: Wireless Universal Resource File

http://wurfl.sourceforge.net/

XML configuration file that contains information about capabilities and features of many mobile devices

Device data repository about mobile phones

Open source, free, and voluntary

Accessed by API at run time

Fosters community among developers

Luca Passani

dotMobi

Mobile domain to support XHTML sites that conform to the .mobi standard

At its heart, a marketing campaign, but one oriented toward quality user experience and brand trust

Provide tools and services to enable best-in-class usability:

Emulator tool at http://mltd.mobi/emulator.php

Page and site test tools at http://ready.mobi

mobiForge developer community at http://mobiforge.com

Best practices: http://mobithinking.com/sites/mobithinking.com/files/dotMobi_Mobile_Usability_Best_Practice.pdf

Site builder tool at http://site.mobi

Device Atlas at http://deviceatlas.com

Database of mobile device information

Accessed via API at run time

Touch

2008 was the year of the bad touch screen phone.

2009 is the year of the iPhone knockoff... from everyone.

But there will be more bad touch screens.

The Return of the QWERTY Keypad

As consumers get tired of bad touch screens, QWERTY phones will pick up demand.

However, it remains to be seen whether touch+QWERTY will be the winning combination...

Touch Screen, Track Ball, & Joystick

Allow one-handed single-mode use to place or answer a call.

That means, only with the touch screen or only with the track ball, or only with the joystick (or 5-way pad)—to answer and place a call.

Animation & Sexy Graphics

The iPhone and competitors use sexy transitions and animations to cover up an underlying inconsistent and awkward UI.

Delete buttons are all over the place.

Back functionality is inconsistent (sometimes at upper left, otherwise not available).

Sometimes things zoom left and right, other times they zoom up and down.

Sometimes things just require too many strokes to complete.

Bigger, Better Cameras

5-megapixel standard, 8-megapixel not unusual

Autofocus

Zoom

However, it’s just too hard to transfer photos to a computer or via MMS (or email)—exceptions noted!

Hiding the Underlying OS

Popular press criticise HTC handsets for not hiding Windows Mobile enough...

What about Android?

What about LiMo?

What about S60?

Application Stores

Apple pioneered the mobile-accessed application store.

Google’s Android and RIM’s Blackberry are also offering stores.

Microsoft purported to be working on an application store.

Qualcomm’s BREW has had a hard-to-use store for a number of years.

Nokia, Nextel, and others have missed this opportunity.

The End of Pink Phones

We can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Music, Finally Well-Done

Music stores on the phones are a promising user experience opportunity.

Standard headphone jacks are smart—and they should be on the top of the phone, not the left, right, or bottom!

Side loading is the user experience worth considering: it’s a nightmare in Windows Mobile, a breeze on the iPhone, but what about S60 and other OS’s?

Mapping & Location Awareness to a New Level

Presence, direction, speed, all coming to phones in 2009.

Google Maps leads in usability for base mapping applications.

Navigation applications are a different story.

HFI’s Global Offices Headquarters 410 West Lowe Fairfield, IA 52556 Phone: (800) 242-4480 (641) 472-4480 Fax: (641) 472-5412 Boston 1050 Waltham Street, Suite 410 Lexington, MA 02421 Phone: (781) 860-7200 Fax: (781) 860-7979 Baltimore 930 South Wolfe Street Baltimore MD 21231 Phone: (410) 327-1012 / 1013 Fax : (410) 327-1014 Mumbai, India Unit 7, Srishti Plaza, Next to Killick Nixxon, Off Saki-Vihar Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai 400072 Phone: 91 (22) 4017 0400 Fax: 91 (22) 2847 5554 Bangalore, India 310/6 HR Complex, 2nd Floor Koramangala, 5th Block Bangalore 560 095 Tel: +91 (80) 4150 7221/22/23 Fax: +91 (80) 4150 7220 San Francisco 425 Market Street Suite 2200 San Francisco, CA 94105 Phone: (415) 955-2734 London, UK 16 Albemarle Street London W1S 4HW Phone: +44 (0)207 290 3430 Fax: +44 (0)207 491 4118 China 407, No. 555, Nanjing Road West Shanghai, China 200041 Phone: +86-21-5213 2046 Fax: +86-21-5213 2062 Chicago 8700 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue Suite 800 South Chicago, IL 60631-3507 Phone: (773) 714-2362 Fax: (773) 714-4910 Minneapolis 8400 Normandale Lake Blvd, Suite 920 Minneapolis, MN 55437 Phone: (952) 820-4442 Fax: (952) 921-2306 New York One Penn Plaza 36th Floor New York, NY 10119 Phone: (212) 835-1699 Pondicherry, India No.184, Mission Street Puducherry 605001 Phone: + 91 413 4210583 Fax: + 91 413 4210586 Singapore 51 Tras Street, #03-01 Singapore, 078990 Phone: +65 6220 6431 Fax: +65 6220 6436 Thank You! Usable. Experience . Design.