You regularly hear very enthusiastic reactions about the design of Motorola phones. Especially the RAZR and the Pebble. And you have to admit, they have found a distinct design language. But the most positive thing I have heard about Motorola's user interface, is: "Well, it takes some getting used to, but now I can handle it." A number of years ago, when Motorola introduced a new UI a mobile phone magazine I read (I think it was simply called 'Mobile') reviewed the new UI under the title "Two thumbs down for Motorola's new UI." Imagine you just worked 1,5 years on that...
But Motorola's UI problems seem to continue to this day. Read this - less than enthusiastic - review of the UI of the RAZR. Apparently they're working on a new version. Mark Hurst, from goodexperience.com, also cites a more recent edition of Mobile magazine.

"In the survey of 55 Motorola customers, 78% said they wouldn't buy a Motorola handset again, with the majority citing problems with usability..."

Oops. One of the more annoying issues seems to be the phone book (be sure to read the comments to that one). Motorola developed a new UI, which was presented in 2005. Wondering how it landed. Not two thumbs down again, I hope.

Technorati Tags: consumer product usability, usability, user interface design, user-centred design

Remember this one? In an already entertaining overview of the top 10 Apple products that flopped, the Apple Puck Mouse, for the first iMac, got an honorable mention. It felt like grasping air, and gave no support of the hand whatsoever. There were even click-on extensions for sale to turn it into a more regular looking mouse.

Introduced with the original iMac in 1998, it has only one button but figuring out where that button was and orienting the mouse without looking down created an ergonomic nightmare. Apple did a small indentation in a later version so you could figure out where to put your finger, but you still had to find the indentation. The Puck Mouse was discontinued a few years later.

(image from wikipedia)

Technorati Tags: consumer electronics, consumer product usability, design, ergonomics, usability

Developing Simply
In 2005 Vodafone launched Vodafone Simply, a range of supposedly easy to use phones, manufactured by Sagem. They were aimed at people who do not want the elaborate feature set and fancy interfaces. Basically the phones are targeted at somewhat 'technology averse' people. One of the most interesting features I find that your own phone number is shown in the display. Good thing, I've seen too many infrequent phone users (uncles, aunts, etc) look at me with a blank stare when I asked them what their number was.
A post on visionmobile sums up a few interesting facts about the development of the Vodafone Simply, such as:

2. It wasn’t just a Sagem job
Some little known facts about Sagem’s Simply handsets: The UI and information architecture were designed by Vodafone’s in-house User Experience team, which collaborated with US-based market research firm UsableProducts for usability design and testing, while the hardware design was by IDEO [...] As for the software, it was designed by a Paris-based UI technogy company.

Interestingly, in the comments on the article you'll find this quote...

However, according to reliable sources, Vodafone country operations are today struggling to sell Simply handsets, because the range is competing unfavourably with other handsets in terms of price.

Simply an Archetypical Mobile Phone
The Simply phone in essence still are pretty regular GSM handsets, which seems fit for the segment it's targeting: 34-54 year old technology averse people, that do want a mobile phone. And a not-to-stigmatizing one at that. They don't want the mobile-phone-for-dummies. However, for the target group a little older than that, even the Simply might not be simple enough. For example, the Simply handsets still have a phonebook. This may sound as a basic function, but one of the biggest differences between a regular phone and the mobile phone is the phonebook. Or it used to be, before DECT handsets got msn and phonebooks (hurray sense and simplicity). A relative of mine used to have the Ericsson T10 handset, and used the inside of the flip to store a piece of paper with her 10 most important phone numbers. A very convenient place. To her, that was faster than accessing the phonebook.


(The simplefone, by NPK - click image to enlarge)

The Absolute Basics
Most seniors have a neatly-kept contact list on paper. This is why the Dutch design agency NPK was came up with this design for basicphone (in Dutch Only). A mobile phone without a phonebook. Without a menu even. All you do, all you can do is punch in the number and call. Strangely enough it does allow the storing of quick dial numbers under the numeric keys. Japanese mobile phone carrier TU-KA has a similar handset, developed by Kyocera: no display, no phonebook, just call (more pictures on this website).

But Do They Sell?
The comment that Vodafone Simply allegedly does not sell that good makes me curious. How good well are these basic products selling? And should you really sell them with the traditional marketing methods ("this and that new feature!") through traditional sales channels ("Well, this is a really basic product, but for only 20 euro more you can have this and that new feature!"

(Conceptual Framework for Usability in Product Development, click image to enlarge)

Just visited the Annual Meeting of the English Ergonomics Society in Nottingham, where I presented a paper called 'Usability in Product Development; A Conceptual Framework'. As part of my PhD project I am conducting case studies among 5 international product development companies, active in consumer electronics (or electronic consumer products as I call them). Because you can't look at everything while performing case studies, you need to decide what you will focus on, which is captured in a conceptual framework. We visualized the framework, which rendered a rather detailed, and maybe somewhat complex looking overview. However, the visualized framework proved a very valuable tool during the case study research during setup, as well as during data processing.The basis of the framework is the product development process, which produces the product, which in turn is part of the human-product interaction. We identified six actors that would influence usability in product development, whose activities and methods should be investigated.

Download a pdf of an early version of the article, or go to my research/publications page.

You can call it an example of featuritis, feature blithe, or feature creep. I say the Wenger Giant Swiss Army Knife V1.0 16999 is just really, really cool. I'm just wondering whether it comes with a tank to transport it, with its "85 implements and 110 functions." But, the most important question you have to ask yourself is: how big are my pockets?

(don't click the image, it's just a screen capture... click the link below)

A movie called The Shape of Phones from 'the futures channel'. Product developers from different disciplines give their angle on the development of mobile phones at Motorola. A classic if you're interested in multidisciplinary product development.

• Industrial Designer: "Industrial Design is what makes the phone cool."
• The Mechanical Engineer: "The Industrial Designers usually have a grand plan about how they want the phone to look."
• Human Factors Specialist: "I'm not as much interested in what it looks like, but more in how easy it is to use."

Credits for finding this movie go to core77.

Technorati Tags: business and usability, consumer electronics, consumer product usability, consumer products, design, usability

Need to convince people of the usefulness of usability? This collection of usability quotes at www.usabilityworks.co.uk might suit your purpose.

Ricoh found that 95% of the respondents to a survey never used three key features deliberately added to the product to make it more appealing. Customers either didn't know these features existed, didn't know how to use them, or didn't understand them (Nussbaum and Neff, 1991).

Mostly web and software-related, but some of the issues hold up for electronic consumer products as well.

Technorati Tags: business and usability, consumer product usability, usability

Ah well, an oldy, but a goodie: www.dialog05.com or how to be creative with USB plugs.

Technorati Tags: design example, user interface design

"From Business to Buttons focuses on how to secure expected business values through design." I'm not exactly sure what this is supposed to mean. I got it from their website. But basically I get the impression the conference is about the link between business and user experience, which is an interesting proposition. Designers involved in projects/products like Yahoo!, Sony Ericsson, New York Times, Skype and Ajax, will talk about recent projects and how they work. Basically a series of lectures by cool people. It's organized by usability consultant inUse and Malmoe University.

Technorati Tags: business and usability, usability, usability events, user interface design