Tuesday October 24, 2006

Desktop app to cell phone app?

Its not that easy.

So another UE designer who works in the desktop area asked me how one moves a desktop application to a cell phone. What does one change in the user experience?

This of course prompted a reaction. Why "move" an application from the desktop to a mobile phone? It usually works far better to start from basics.

Why? Cell phones operate in a very different reality then a desktop machine, even one that is a laptop. Those reality shifts ripple through the entire user experience. Let me show you what I mean....

1. Cell phones are personal devices.

Consumers see them as an extension of themselves. Ask any teenager what three items they never leave home without. Then ask a soccer mom the same question. Cell phone is on both lists and pretty high up on the list too.

When a device becomes personal to this extent, one of the obvious implications is that the device must be robust and not crash. It has to be available 24 x 7. Thats all ok but it doesn't really get at the heart of what it means to be personal.

When a device becomes personal, it means the person depends upon it. What this means is somewhat open to discussion, however there are some aspects we can review here.

When someone gets a new phone, they will learn just enough to make the device useful to them. This is called the paradox of the active user. Over time people will also learn to adapt to the idiosyncrasies of the user experience of the device.

Depending on a cell phone means that people think of the phone as an extension of themselves. Over time, many people will start to get frustrated that the device doesn't adapt to them. The phone should remember how they use it. These users tell us that the device should remember where a person left off on a task, that they should not have to re-enter information, or, the phone should know where they are, and so on.

Your homework is to think about what it means to apply this idea of personal to how one creates a user experience for a cell phone and to a application on that cell phone.

[evil laugh]

Next post: 2. Cell phones are all about people communicating with people.

( Oct 24 2006, 11:31:31 AM PDT ) Permalink