Mobile user interfaces – it’s time for a new paradigm
Olof Schybergson and Mike Beeston, resp. creative director and managing director of Fjord Ltd in the UK, write about the need for a new paradigm in mobile user interfaces in the 3G Portal.
“Mobile technology is changing societies faster than any other technology, and the pace of mobile innovation and adoption is truly staggering. An increasing amount of consumption and tasks are now carried out on the move. With increased capabilities of the phones, user behaviour also evolves. The rapid technical change and equally rapid user adoption poses some real challenges for interface designers. Interface solutions that seemed nicely scalable and intuitive only a few years ago are already showing severe strain as they are trying to accommodate all the complexity mediated through our mobile devices.”
“We feel that the recent ‘arms race’ between handset manufacturers has mainly been one about hardware. Key areas of differentiation have been camera megapixel count, size and clarity of screen, battery life, and overall form factors like the size and the elegance of the device. However, with loyalty, churn and customer satisfaction goals, the focus will increasingly shift towards the user experience of the device. A key part of that experience is the user interface. And the time is ripe for some radical innovation.” […]
“The reason why mobile phone interfaces need to re-discover simplicity is clear: they are used while on the move!”
