Category — Interface Prototyping

Hear the word smartphone and what pops into your head. Invariably an iPhone or Android with their sleek interface design and functionality. One undeniable tech trend of the last four years has been the explosion of the smartphone and mobile devices market. Another underlying trend is the shrinking market share of Nokia and the Symbian S60 smartphone operating system. In the best of times the symbiotic (excuse the pun) led to both topping the charts and Nokia eventually buying the company behind the OS. A few years on and you almost have to ask yourself how it could all seem to go wrong. So wrong in fact that both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s reportedly have put Nokia on “negative credit watch” concerned with Nokia’s ability to compete. And all of this despite Nokia still being the largest mobile phone manufacturer! As for Symbian, it has now been overtaken by Android.  Could it be that complacency in interface design and in product iteration simply allowed other platforms to innovate and offer superior user experience? In a leaked memo, Nokia’s CEO candidly describes their situation as “standing on a burning platform”.

How might Nokia address interface design shortcomings?

Nokia is a company that makes great hardware but the focus now is on software and interface design. Symbian’s User Interface design simply appears below par. This has a lot to do with the fact that it is intended to be used with all manner of phones and interface designs, be they smartphones or regular “dumbphones”. On the other hand Android and iOS, for example are specifically designed for high-end touchscreen phones and this is reflected in the interface design. Nokia’s (and Intel’s) MeeGo OS doesn’t seem up to the task with the CEO admitting that “at this rate, by the end of 2011, we might have only one MeeGo product in the market”. Had Nokia woken up earlier it might have purchased Palm (which created underwhelming hardware) for it’s roundly praised webOS when the company was up for sale. Indications point to Nokia turning to Windows Phone 7, with its innovative ‘Tiles’ interface design. Makers of Android handsets have had a head start in developing for Android and often implement proprietary user interface designs onto the Android OS (HTC’s Sense UI, Motorola’s MotoBlur, Sony Ericsson’s Mediascape). Windows Phone 7 is not fragmented like Android and could be deployed by Nokia immediately. With a major announcement from Nokia expected at this year’s World Mobile Congress we shall soon find out.

For many years now, outsourcing has resounded through the land. But still it is linked in our heads with big companies which give some work away because they either do not have the capacity to carry out the work themselves, or want to save money by using this strategy. However, nowadays it is not only big companies anymore who try to gain from this process, but more and more small businesses and private people.

The advantages of outsourcing

But what are the advantages of outsourcing and how can these be generated? The system is easy. If you as a company – (whether a small or big one) – would like to give previously performed in-house tasks to an external provider, you can simply give the contract to a third-party who you will pay to carry out the task on your behalf. The main advantages include cost savings, being able to focus on your core business, overall being able to improve the quality while increasing flexibility at the same time. Collaborating with external experts allows customers to calculate their business costs more precisely because the costs only occur for a certain period of time.
But how can you find such an external provider, and how do you know if the price you are paying is not too high and if the proposal is really the best you could get? One possibility is: Using global internet platforms which arrange services for you in order to meet your individual needs. One of the biggest in Germany is twago.

Team Work Across Global Offices – twago

twago is a Berlin based company which focuses on outsourcing and offshoring of online services. The overall goal is to achieve the best performance for the best price for the customer. The more precisely you know what specific task you would like to have done, e.g. programming, web design, user interface design, etc., the better it is. You simply post your project with a detailed description on the platform and receive proposals from all over the world from up to 20,000 providers. These service providers can be companies or freelancers. You can find a service provider who best fits to the individual project. Whether you are looking for a service provider from around the corner to meet up face to face or you prefer a freelancer from a specific country, twago offers the possibility to find the right service provider with suitable skills. You choose the one that best fits your needs and preferences. And the best of all: Using twago is easy. You just have to register, post your project and award it to your provider of choice. Should you need any help or special service the kind twago employees are ready to support you. You can try it out at: http://www.twago.com.

Apple recently released its second generation of the MacBook Air laptop series in an effort to improve upon the oft criticized, though equally lauded, model. Users and the tech community alike praised the original MacBook for its portability, size, usability and sleek design, but carped on its high price, limited configuration options, limited battery options and hard drive size.  Apple has clearly capitulated to the complaints of the masses as the new MacBook series include both the original 13.3” model and a new 11.6” model starting at $999. Additionally, both versions boast lighter aluminum enclosures, higher resolution screens, excellent track pad/keyboard combinations, higher battery power and SSD.  They also come with the latest version of the iLife Software Suite, which includes iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand apps among other useful features for app and software savvy users.

Of course, improvements do not a perfect version make, and complaints bubbling to the surface surrounding the MacBook Air include small and difficult keyboard keys and heating issues – user interface problems affecting the usability of the device. However, the most prominent complaint concerns the GUI design.  Many users are reporting that the interface display is prone to flickering, freezing, and kernel errors as the computer attempts to resurrect itself from sleep mode.  The causes behind these GUI difficulties are not quite clear, but what is clear is that each new generation of technology comes with its own set of new and unique issues that have to be remedied over the course of the first few months of release.  Thus, the new MacBook Air is definitely a worthwhile investment, but it might be prudent to wait to buy it until the newborn glitches are sorted out.

Several weeks ago Plane Finder AR debuted for iPhones, an app that allows users to point their phones at the sky and see data about various flights passing overhead.  So if you have ever found yourself staring at the heavens, desperate to know where those smoldering trails of jet engine smoke will end up, then you will likely find this app an excellent investment of $2.99.  But if you don’t often find your head in the clouds you may find this app to be a bit on the silly side, regardless of its innovative character and interface design.

Users who install the Plane Finder app on their smartphone interface will be able to see:

•    How fast the plane is going
•    The plane’s point of origin
•    The plane’s destination
•    The plane’s elevation
•    The flight number
•    The distance between the phone and the plane

Facebook’s new Places tool has sparked controversy in the last few weeks with many users feeling uneasy about the possibility of their location being made public in real-time.  The Places tool allows users to “check-in” at locations that are then shared with their friends in the Facebook network.  For the most part, users are able to control when they tell other users where they are – they must actively “check-in” and change locations (as opposed to the Facebook interface automatically updating their locale).  It seems harmless enough, but Places has a loophole that has caused some users to deem it the first step towards Facebook acting as Big Brother: By default, Facebook friends can check you in wherever and whenever they want.  This means that they can possibly check you in at places that you are not, perhaps getting you in trouble not only at work but also with friends and family.

You surely remember those times in school when you had to read some of the great works of literature in school. Whether or not you liked them, here are two examples of great poetry that we have turned into usability poetry, taking the original works as inspiration and exploring some of the topics of modern usability research. Enjoy!

Ode to a Skinned Interface Design
I went to the link my friend sent me,
And I saw what I never had seen;
An ad banner was built in the midst,
Where I used to click on the screen.

With no choice but to scroll down I did frown,
My friend’s interface design was upside down,
Like a tourist with no clue I looked around lost in town,
‘Cause there were no breadcrumbs to be found.

A millisecond too long I located local navigation,
Thinking ‘they sure could use a wireframe tool for their creations’.
With findability resolved these usability problems would dissolve
And, in tow, his search engine ranking would evolve.

The Cons

According to Nielsen, the “critical failing of user interviews is that you’re asking people to either remember past use or speculate on future use of a system.” Interviews rely heavily on what people can remember (which is tied to the concept of memorability).  Thus, the main critical failings of users are:

•    Human memory is fallible: Humans can’t remember details about how they used a website and tend to make up stories to rationalize their loss of memory by either embellishing what they do remember or disclosing tentative or false information about what they don’t remember.
•    Users are pragmatic and concrete: Since users usually have no idea how to speculate about how they would use a system based on its description alone.  Users can use what is in front of them but not guess about how they would use an interface design that they have not been exposed to.

The main problem with interviews is that one cannot reliably collect concrete information about the specifics of a user interface design.

What interviews tell you and how you can use them

The main benefit of interview is, according to Nielsen, “exploring general attitudes”.  Interviews are a good way to understand the big picture related to an interface design, but not always the best way to measure details and specifics.  With that in mind, if you are going to use interviews as a method of collecting user experience feedback then use them in tandem with a usability testing method that is more precise or quantitative and allows you to get a better reading on the detail-based problems with your design.

In this two part blog post I shall look at findability and the crucial role it plays in the interface design of websites. In part 1 of the blog I shall explain what findability is and what the main issues are affecting findability on a website.

What is findability?

Findability, in computer science, refers to a user’s ability to identify and then navigate the interface designs of websites or web-apps. It encompasses aspects of information architecture, user interface design, accessibility and search engine optimization. The term findability is credited to Peter Morville who remarked that “findability precedes usability. In the alphabet and on the Web. You can’t use what you can’t find.” In this vein findability is two-pronged, on one hand dealing with users finding a website. On the other hand it deals with how users find things that they are looking for, such as the help section or contact details etc., on a given website. According to Neilson Online currently there are more than 1,733,993,741 internet users generating and interacting with vast streams of data. Findability helps ensure your website doesn’t get lost in the mix and, when found, not to be deserted by frustrated users who in all likelihood won’t return, barring a thorough reworking of the interface design.
If you are developing a website with a new user interface and are interested in optimizing your website’s ability to be located by prospective users on the internet, then it is important to infuse your design process with adequate research about the above mentioned topics.

Issues affecting findability on a website
Findability concerns itself with the effort to make a user interface design easily navigable or usable and to ensure that the interface design process is fully integrated and effective. Key to findability is the organization and representation of a user interface design.  This refers to among others, the layout, the use of breadcrumbs and local navigation. Are users able to easily navigate a website and find the services they were looking for? If they found themselves in the middle of a website (which happens often as people share direct links) would they be able to figure out where in the hierarchy they were?  These issues can easily be revolved by adhering to web standards and through iterative usability testing of wireframe prototypes created with the use of wireframe tools such as pidoco. Another important issue affecting findability is the qualities of your web-site’s content and how it is geared towards search engine optimization.

Several weeks ago Google updated their Google Images page interface design to move from a text-based to a more image based user interface.  The most noticeable changes include search image results that are assembled in a larger, more mosaic style pattern.  Google vice president of search products and user experience Marissa Mayer also maintains that “stripping [the interface down] and highlighting the image” will be simultaneously enticing and beneficial for users.  The idea is that users will have visually visceral and instantaneous access to the products that they seek.

Further changes to the Images interface include the way Google allows users to view selected pictures. Users can now click on the desired image and it will be blown up with the website of origin shown as faded in the background.  Google will also be phasing out text ads and replacing them with image ads to further improve the usability and clarity of its interface design.

I recently came across an interesting gaming platform that I thought I’d share. It seems appropriate since there were several things that I noticed which stood out with regard to its interface design. Well, you’ll see for yourself if you read further.

OnLive is a new service that seeks to turn the gaming world upside down with a decidedly disruptive Web 2.0 approach. Thus far video games have been largely an affair of hardware, localized at that. You (which usually meant mum or dad) would buy a game console or a PC with the best possible graphics card etc… Once that business was out of the way all that was left was to buy the games. This meant buying a piece of plastic with data on it. With the advent of ubiquitous internet, downloading games directly to your local hard drive became possible through services such as Steam. However one needed compatible hardware to be able to run the software. OnLive’s premise is to harness the cloud and a web-browser for gaming. The games run on servers in a remote data center and the audiovisual output is streamed to your computer in exchange for your controller inputs. This means that as long as you have a good internet connection, the hardware settings of your computer do not matter. All very nice so far.