All posts about
Mobile design

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)

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

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 NudelmanUXmatters)

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)

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 TognazinniAskTog) – courtesy of nicotenhoor

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)

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)

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)

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)