An abstract of Aaron Marcus lecture at Stanford on mobile user interface design is available on the web. The “The industry is converging on a UI standard” statement is quite intriguing. It seems clear that design patterns are emerging for mobile UIs, but there are also radically divergent UIs for different kinds of applications and products.
From the article:
- Myth: Users want power and aesthetics. Features are everything.
- Myth: What we really need is a Swiss army knife.
- Myth: 3G is here!
- Myth: Focus groups and other traditional market analysis tools are the best way to determine user needs.
- Myth: If it works in Silicon Valley, it will work anywhere.
- Myth: The killer app will be games, er, no, I mean, horoscopes, or
- Myth: Mobile devices will essentially be phones, organizers, or combinations, with maybe music/video added on.
- Myth: The industry is converging on a UI standard.
- Myth: Highly usable systems are just around the corner.
- Myth: One underlying operating system will dominate.
- Myth: Mobile devices will be free-or nearly free.
- Myth: Advanced data-oriented services are just around the corner.
How informative! There are a lot of myths about the advancements of technology, but one thing that’s for sure is how complicated it all is. Visual communication has come from paintings to pictures, Internet, and mobile telecommunication. It’s truly impressive to see this progression.