Posts Tagged: prototyping

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1
Aug 10

Why UI simulation can suck

I was hanging out at the Nikon store in Kuala Lumpur today, embracing my inner camera geek while a DSLR sensor was cleaned. Up on the big televisions I saw a video advertising the very cool looking S70 touchscreen camera.

I know well how underpowered the CPUs on these devices are, so I was impressed that Nikon had been able to pull this UI off. I walked over to the display and picked up the demo model.

Problem was, it was not much like the video. Response time was slower and motion effects were minimal. It felt like a very different camera to what I’d seen.

Designers are often accused of creating demo-ware that doesn’t correlate with reality. This was at the other end of the cycle: marketing folks creating a simulation of a product that doesn’t match what exists in the world.

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24
Jan 08

Fonts for mobile prototyping

“I’ve seen many prototypes of mobile UIs that can’t be built and if they could, would not be legible on a small LCD screen. So I thought I’d provide some pointers that might help those of you that is starting out. Often, people starting out prototyping mobile phone UIs get the size of the display right but the size of the font wrong. They try to stuff way too much in there, and they use a font size and font family that is not available in the phone.”

Link: Fonts for prototyping mobile UIs (sender11.typepad.com)

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28
Nov 07

Verizon opens network to experimenters

An interesting move in the world of experimentation – Verizon is opening up their network to to small device manufacturers.

”...Early next year, the company will publish the technical standards needed to connect to the Verizon network. It will also host a conference with device developers to learn more about their needs and to help with any problems that arise. Verizon has also dropped another $20 million into its certification lab, and any device maker who wants to connect to Verizon’s network will first need to be certified for proper network connectivity procedures. Nothing else will be checked.

“All applications, operating systems, and runtime environments are supported so long as the devices connect properly to Verizon’s CDMA network (they can make use of either the company’s cellular and PCS bandwidth). The fee for certification of devices will be “surprisingly reasonable,” we’re told, and the program will be open to anyone.”

Link: Verizon opens up, will support any device, any app on its network (arstechnica.com)

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6
Nov 07

Bug Labs physical prototyping platform

TechCrunch wrote that Bug Labs “is creating a Lego-like hardware platform that tinkerers and engineers can use to create their own digital devices…It starts with a BUGBase, which is a general-purpose Linux computer about the size of a PlayStation Portable, encased in white plastic. This has four connectors that plug right into the motherboard. The company will also make a variety of modules that can plug into the computer—like an LCD screen, a digital camera, a GPS unit, a motion sensor, a keyboard, an EVDO modem, and a 3G GSM modem. (There are also places to add USB, Ethernet, WiFi, and serial ports). Bug Labs is planning on making 80 modules over time, and hopes outside companies and developers will create their own.”

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Link: Bug Labs (buglabs.net, via)

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12
Oct 06

Workshop prototyping techniques

A paper discussing prototyping mobile technology design in a workshop format.

“We have found role playing and low-fi prototyping to be of particular value in projects involving mobile technology and multiple users. Our workshop format allows for the simultaneous exploration of future use and future technology. That is of great value in the design of mobile products and services where we simultaneously need to design their use.”

Link: Putting the Users Center Stage: Role Playing and Low-fi Prototyping Enable End Users to Design Mobile Systems (340k PDF, ntnu.no)