AP UX Week '07: Mobile Research Techniques
[Live blogged from Adaptive Path UX Week 2007. Mobile Research Techniques by Rachel Hinman]
How people access the internet on their mobile phones is a a challenging research question. For most people in the world mobile + internet is an awful experience.
It seems people want to use the web differently on a phone than on a PC. A mobile phone is not a PC.
So let's go back to the 1950s and think about punch-cards. Imagine what computing would be like if we hadn't gotten past punch-cards. We have to change our thinking to shift our perspective.
People use mobile for quick checks, to dip in and dip out. Success isn't measured by how long people are at a site on mobile.
When you are using a desktop you are seated in a controlled environment. They have a large screen with an attached keyboard and mouse. The interface has layers and options that are ever-present. These factors combine to create a sense of engagement.
When you use a mobile device you could be anywhere. Compared to a mouse and keyboard, the input options are greatly reduced. Most apps run full screen on a small screen. You can only see a few things at a time.
Think of using a desktop as scuba diving and using mobile as snorkeling. Compare e-mail to SMS and Twitter.
Design for partial attention and interruption. Rethink how you measure the success of a site or application; engagement is not what you are looking for. Design with interruption in mind. Create experiences that are ideal for "skimming the surface." Consider passive forms of content consumption.
They call it surfing for a reason... User Interview subject
The way the Internet is structured today is oriented to Information Architecture; a discipline born out of library science. On the web today, people search and find. On the phone this breaks down because it assumes that you know what you are looking for. The affordances aren't built in to allow you to do this effectively.
Remember mix tapes? Back in the day music was organized by album and mix tapes represent a fundamental workaround. People wanted to create their own albums.
People want information, not URLs. People do more with this information than search for and consume it. They keep an eye out for mix tape-like workarounds. We need to liberate information from the page by privileging XML over HTML.
People check for three things on their phone:
- News
- Weather
- Stocks
Q: The role of the environment seems very important here. You want the device to be exceedingly predictable.
A: People want content to be exciting, engaging, and relevant.
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