Usability problems are prone to surface more often in a product with a lot functionality, wrapped up in a small package; mobile stuff, like portable music players and mobile phones. Operating a 'smart' phone can feel like trying to eat a 12 course meal through a straw. On his website Small Surfaces, Frog Design's Gabriel White, tracks articles about interaction design, user interface design, user experience, usability and social trends related to mobile devices.

The title of his website reminded me of an article called Baby Faces: user interface design for small displays. It's written by - amongst others - by Erik Sparre, who was responsible for the design and usability testing of the UI of Ericsson's T28 mobile phone. And that phone had what I call a small surface. Which makes the achievement of Sparre and his team on that phone even more remarkable.