Category Archives: Culture

Stranger things have happened

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@tef pointed me to this lovely little bit of history…a cache of design notes and “statements of architectural principle” compiled by Tim Berners-Lee between 1996 and 2003.

A particular article, entitled Myths about links caught my eye. The article seeks to dispel common myths (from 1997!) in regards to linking.

Looking at them today, they seem quite absurd.

  • Myth: A normal link is an incitement to copy the linked document in a way which infringes copyright.
  • Myth: Making a link to a document makes your document more valuable and therefore is a right you should pay [for].
  • Myth: Making a link to someone’s publicly readable document is an infringement of privacy.

Tim also outlines some notorious cases where companies tried to prevent others from linking (or deep linking) to their site. (Note the presence of one an Olympic sites on the list…a brand that to this day has difficulty adapting to social change).

It’s sobering to think how many businesses (let alone global resources like Wikipedia) wouldn’t exist today if we’d continued to believe that linking should require permission, or payment, and should otherwise be prevented from occurring. The overhead involved would have been stifling and the administrative hassle not worth the burden for all but the largest or richest of companies.

But then again…stranger things have happened.

This glimpse into the web’s past reminds us how the social, political, and organizational changes brought on by a technology are often far more disruptive than the technology itself. In fact, creating the technology is somewhat (!) the easy bit. What’s much harder is to find a place for it in our lives.

And if that technology happens to be disruptive, this can take a very long time indeed. Fifteen years after Tim wrote these notes, we may think we know the Internet (and the web), yet their place in society is constantly being challenged.

How many bizarre, costly, and disruptive processes do we persist with today simply because it’s so hard to move past “how things have always been…”?

How different might the world be if we’d gone another way?

7 inch tablets and other oddities

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As rumours spread of a possible 7″ iPad and Google announces it’s Nexus 7, smaller tablets are already proving quite popular in Asia.

I first ran into widespread 7″ tablet use in Hong Kong back in 2010. Back then, it was the first generation Galaxy Tab. While not as common as the iPad, 7″ Tabs were easy to spot while wandering cafes and student hangouts of MongKok and Kowloon.

Two years later, a whole range of tablets (5″, 10″ and many sizes in between) are readily visible in central Bangkok. These include the 5.3″ Galaxy Note, the second generation 7″ Galaxy Tab (thinner and lighter), the 8.9″ Galaxy Tab, and my personal favourite—the perfectly sized (not too big…not too small) 7.7″ Galaxy tab.

people holding and using smaller tablets

Back in Europe however, it’s still pretty rare to see a tablet in the wild other than the iPad. There’s obviously no way to know why smaller tablets haven’t caught on here, but I suspect it’s due to a (somewhat random) confluence of events:

  • The iPad came out first and was heralded by Apple as “the perfect size”.
  • Mental models developed around the larger size and were exacerbated by flaky 7″ tablet releases by the likes of RIM and Motorola.
  • Both the original 7″ Tab and Amazon’s Kindle Fire didn’t quite sort out an optimal viewport width (vis-a-vis their respective number of device pixels and physical device size). The poor 7″ Tab ended up feeling like a Fisher Price inspired oversized phone, while the Fire suffered an opposite fate with reduced usability due to a bit-too-wide viewport.

Why smaller tablets took off in Asia may also be down to culture and historical accident. The Samsung brand is incredibly strong in Asia, so it’s not surprising the Tab family had immediate appeal. The use of smaller tablets in Asia is also paired with widespread use and availability of accessories. Some accessories are of course pure fashion, but others go a long way in enhancing and extending a device.

The most interesting I think are foldable cases (not unlike a classic iPad case but widely available in Asia for almost any make or model of device). Fitting one of these (inadvertently?) results in more comfortable and balanced use of many mid-sized devices. Compare the image below of a girl holding a 7″ tablet upright (in the way Amazon often portrays their much lighter 1st generation Kindle) with the far more comfortable use of a Galaxy Note when cradled in a foldable case.

man and woman holding a 7" tablet

This may not seem life-changing but makes a world of difference if your hand is smaller. A smaller tablet paired with a more ergonomic case is also quite conducive to stylus use (yet another accessory that caught on much faster in Asia and has remained popular due to the obvious benefits of handwriting recognition for certain character-sets).

The ability to easily accessorize, is similar in value to the ability to install an app. The device changes from a finite that thing you must adapt to, to a thing that you can mould to fit your lifestyle.

For some reason, 10″ tablets feel just that little bit less versatile. Like it or not, they require a certain planning and intent to carry. By comparison, smaller tablets weigh less, the display is often “big enough” (especially if you can do stuff like this), and the device fits into almost any bag, purse, or even pocket.

Smaller tablets are also infinitely more comfortable (and less dorky-looking) to use when taking photos!

taking photos on a tablet

I think we stand to see much higher use of smaller tablets/larger phones/connected purse-sized glowing rectangles of indeterminate viewport size in the future. :-)

It’s about the content stupid

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Here’s a revolutionary idea. What if all sites were lightweight?

Seriously. Wouldn’t the world be a much better place?

Oh but sorry, I forgot. Users want interactivity. (We know this because…well, just because).

I’m in Bangkok, in a nice hotel, on a Mac, trying to browse the Camper web site using somewhat lethargic wi-fi.

The site is—I have no doubt—award winning. I’m sure it will show up on the pages of .NET mag any moment because the gorgeous “Take Camper shoes for a walk” concept was developed using HTML5 instead of Flash.

Never mind that it still has that all too familiar “Please wait” loading animation (by my estimate a 20-second wait just to load the swooshy, minimalist Jackson Pollocky home screen…but of course Camper’s personas didn’t include slow wi-fi).

All this wouldn’t be so bad if each shoe collection didn’t spawn yet another “Please wait” message, and yet another 20 second wait before i’ve even seen the shoes (…but that’s what the awesome copywriting is for…a collection called Flexibility, Together or Cushioning must surely be worth the wait!)

Eventually it becomes unbearable. Where is a good mobile site when you need one?

The problem is, I really like Camper. I saw some nice shoes today at the mall and want to know if they’re available back home (because i’ve learned from experience that region-blocking also applies to shoes).

So I take the only sane option available to me. I download their PDF brochure.

It takes about 10 seconds.

The content is static, but it’s perfectly lovely (…possibly due to the fact that I can actually see the bloody content). And as a bonus, it’s incredibly portable…I can view it on any number of devices!

So congratulations to all of us. It’s 2012, HTML5 is awesome, and i’m surfing a PDF.

The zombie apocalypse can’t come soon enough. Nothing like a good plague to sort things out.

How do you personalize a glowing rectangle?

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One of the reasons I love Asia is that personalization is so important here (or maybe all of us like to personalize…but in Asia there are far more opportunities to do so).

The latest trend is to make opportunistic use of the headphone jack to connect all manner of fun or useful appendage to the device.

Such a simple idea, and far more innovative in my opinion than many apps.

And if that’s not enough…how why not decorate (and apparently protect?) the Home button on your iPhone with a squishy donut sticker?

The mother of all device tests

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In a somewhat horrifying development it now seems the airline industry will have to take up device testing.

According to Nick Bilton’s latest article in the New York Times, the FAA is finally contemplating allowing the use of electronic devices on take-off, taxi and landing.

The problem is, each device will first need to be tested and approved.

“For example, if the airline wanted to get approval for the iPad, it would have to test the first iPad, iPad 2 and the new iPad, each on a separate flight, with no passengers on the plane.

It would have to do the same for every version of the Kindle. It would have to do it for every different model of plane in its fleet. And American, JetBlue, United, Air Wisconsin, etc., would have to do the same thing.”

Nick suggests the device manufacturers should foot the bill for some of this testing (and those that don’t would see their devices banned).

The practicalities of this would of course be hilarious. I can just imagine the slightly unreal conversations that would ensue…

“I’m sorry sir. Either you show me that user agent string or i’m going to have to ask you to turn that device off!”.

 

Mobile users don’t do that

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The conversation often starts like this…

“Mobile users won’t want to do that, they’re ‘on the go’ and will be in a hurry or want  a quick distraction.”

This is true, except when it’s not.

Study after study reveals people use their mobile at home, while watching TV. People also use mobile devices for hours while waiting on trains and at airports. For each user who is in a hurry there will be another who stares intently at their device for 20-30 minute stints. If that devices happens to be a tablet, they may use it for even longer periods. And while many users will simply be consuming content, others will be shopping, banking, or performing other very specific tasks.

“Ok, but some mobile users will still be in a hurry. Shouldn’t we cater to them? Make things extra simple for them?”

Agreed. Mobile users will curse up and down if they can’t do that really useful, common, important thing really quickly. Any chance you have to focus and trim copy, streamline interactions, or minimise data input should be considered.

But why exactly are we only fixing things for mobile users?

Desktop users may have a bit more time on their hands, but does it mean we should waste it with happy talk, redundant data entry, or poorly optimised interactions? If I had a penny for the number of times I’ve had to input Edinburgh, choose United Kingdom or specify today’s date in a menu I’d be rich by now. Modern browsers make it much simpler to implement intelligent defaults. Why should it only be a mobile thing?

“Ok. But we still can’t implement all features for small screens. Some things are just too complicated.” 

Agreed. Completing a life insurance form on a mobile (or BTW on the desktop and on paper) is really complicated. That doesn’t mean people won’t try it, and even that is besides the point.

Let’s look at it a bit differently…

First off, what is the traffic for this feature on the desktop?

If traffic (and completion rates) are high, shouldn’t you seriously consider including it in the mobile roadmap, even if it will be hard to implement (or may involve additional testing and come in a later phase)?

And if the traffic is low, why is that? Maybe the feature isn’t actually needed, or maybe it’s too hard to use (or find) on the desktop as well.

Kayak recently tweaked their desktop site to bring it in line with the simplicity of their mobile offering. One of the steps they took was to remove rarely used features, to better focus on optimising higher traffic ones.

Also worth considering that people who suffer through impossibly complex (or broken) features on a tiny screen are either really desperate, or are power users who simply want to get stuff done…wherever they happen to be at the time. As acquisition typically costs much more than retention, are these really the people you want to disappoint?

And don’t forget, some of these devices are also phones :-)

Sometimes a well placed voice call or SMS can save the day. Yell.com (and several travel sites) recently implemented a “Call Us” feature for those times when despite their best efforts, what a user wants to do is just too complicated (or maybe not yet supported). If a user is about to bail, the ‘best UX’ is one that provides them with a handy one-click life raft.

PS – You will lose points however for displaying a “Call Us” button on a device that can’t actually place a call. If you provide a life raft, be sure it actually floats.

“Illustrating lifestyles from the developing world” on the MEX blog

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 Thai monk with second generation NGage

Many thanks to Marek Pawlowski, organizer of the MEX, Mobile User Experience conference, for the opportunity to publish my response to the annual MEX Manifesto on the MEX blog.

“In this article responding to point #5 of the MEX Manifesto (’The developing world is the new frontier for mobile user experience‘), Stephanie Rieger of user experience consultancy Yiibu paints a detailed picture of customer lifestyles in South East Asia. Stephanie’s writing interweaves links to a community photo essay from Flickr with her own commentary on the individuals she has met in this region and her observations on the mobile user experience implications.”(more)

I will also be attending the conference on 27-28, May 2008 and co-authoring the annual MEX Report which outlines conference proceedings and the overall response to the Mex Manifesto.

Really looking forward to attending the event!

Phone sharing in Europe and emerging economies

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Via Experentia:

According to a recent Nokia survey of consumers in emerging markets [conducted in India, China, Brazil, Pakistan, Vietnam, Russia and Egypt], a new trend appears to be emerging: phone sharing. More than 50% of respondents in India, Pakistan and nearly 30% in Vietnam indicate that they share, or would share, their mobile phone with family or friends – a figure which contrasts consumer behaviour in more mature markets.

“Phone sharing is a logical trend – more and more families are purchasing a mobile phone for the entire family to use, not just the head of the household. In addition, digital cameras are quickly becoming more popular in these markets, and as such taking and sharing digital images is becoming more common,” adds Lambeek. “In response, Nokia has developed a number of innovative features like the multiple phonebook to support phone sharing, and we have added technologies like Bluetooth to some models to make transferring images and ringtones easy and affordable.”

Interestingly, this is not only occuring in emerging markets (although i’m sure that emerging market lead the way in this behaviour as it just plain makes sense for consumers with lower incomes.)

A recent large French study (French PDF) found that families in varying income brackets tend to share devices:

1. The mobile phone is no longer just a personal device. In 2007, the phone is integrated within collective practices both in the family and between friends.

Mobile phone are increasingly objects that circulate within a group. The owner of the mobile phone is no longer the only one to touch it, check it and use it.

Mobile phones can allow for exchanges based on the amount of credit left before the end of the month and on the range of hourly allowances when calls are free. This can also lead to a collective choice of operators, of discount plans and of prepaid cards, with the sole aim of optimising cost within the group.

Within the family, mobile phone reinforce the asymmetric role and character of the parent-child relationship: whereas parents do not think about money when calling their children, the children themselves try to save money by “beeping” their parents, in order to be called back.

The mobile of the child is a jointly managed tool and a transaction device. It is experienced by the parents – and mainly by the mothers – as an opportunity for exchange with their child and as a way for children to learn to manage a financial budget.

Within a group of friends, mobile phones serve to define roles and affinities. One can find the expert, and the user with difficulties, the “banker” who always has some credit, and the “borrower” who always asks for text messages and minutes (without ever giving them).

Beyond these roles, the mobile phone created relations of exclusivity with those whom one calls most often based on the tariff offers and their compatibility.

More on this study–again on Experentia.

Reading list, Virtual online worlds and MMOGs

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(Preface…not much blogging lately as i’ve been struggling with my spam issue for several months. At least i’m not alone with this particular problem but having to wade through instructions to harden WordPress and worry about the nasty emails i’ve received from Google are making me reconsider the amount of energy required to host a blog on my server vs a hosted provider. Spam is gone…for now…will see how things continue to develop before I make any drastic decisions…)

Been learning about virtual worlds and economies lately and thought i’d share some of the interesting links i’ve dug up:

Keitai Fashion in Thailand

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I was chatting with Anina about phone fashion last week and went on a bit of a recon of what’s available in Bangkok right now. This is what I found.

Phone Jewelry (Phone Bling :-)

Plastic diamonds and gemstones for your phone are available for about $3-4 a package. Most consist of sticky diamond hearts and multi-sized and coloured gems that you can randomly stick on your phone. Others however, are pre-arranged to form a shape like a heart or hello kitty character. Others still, are meant to fit perfectly around the keypad and designed with particular models in mind.

Stickers

These mostly seem to come out of Korea and China. For about $3 you get a sheet of stickers (hearts, balloons, kawai characters etc.) that you can arrange at will—or larger stickers that are meant for particular spots on the handset. The later are die-cut to fit around the keypad although there don’t seem to be any particular models in mind so it looks like some creative trimming may be involved.

I also ran into some privacy screens which are basically screen protectors designed to evade handset eavesdropping by making it difficult to see the screen from an angle.

Branded Phone Straps

There are tons of these around. The price ranges from $2 all the way up to $20 or more depending on where you buy them and what branded character is hanging off the strap (and how legally the character has been licensed.) Sanrio and San-X characters are pretty popular but the fad right now is Kubrick style vinyl bears. Most of them are very cheaply produced but I saw one store with at least 30-40 different styles of bear straps. A great example of some of the stuff available here can be found on this site devoted entirely to Japanese phone straps.

Fashion Straps

For the older crowd, there are lots of alternatives as well. I ran into a rack of supposedly Calvin Klein straps which were quite elegant—just a short leather strap with a small diamond on the base. Others are a bit louder and include sequins, diamonds and bells (lots and lots of bells!) It’s also easy to find straps aimed at the ethnic Chinese minority with good luck charms and the ubiquitous beckoning cat.

Interesting to note as well that despite their perceived cute-ness, phone straps are in use by young and old of all genders. It’s not unusual to see adults (even men) with small branded characters dangling off their phones. My favourite last week was a 20 something man on the subway carrying a 6680 with a huge fuzzy pink heart dangling off of it. The heart was bigger than the phone!

Phone Rests

I love these things. Basically, they’re bean bag chairs for your phone—usually with a hole in the middle so that the handset sits in a comfortable vertical position with the screen and softkeys visible. These can be as expensive as $20 and often also include some sort of branded property.

Phone Cozys

Basically these are things to carry your phone in. They’re often no more than little cloth drawstring bags but some can be quite stylish. At the cheap end, they can cost as little as $2.

Fashion Covers

These have been popular for years. For starters, you can buy a plastic coloured cover for almost any Nokia or Sony available. Some vendors carry nothing but covers and it’s quite amazing to watch them pop an old cover off and pop the new ones on. Every time I try i’m convinced i’m going to permanently damage my phone.

Lately, the fashion seems to be cases rather than cover. These are thick slightly opaque plastic (similar to certain iPod covers) and make the handset almost bullet-proof as a result. Once again, they are specially designed for your model and often emulate the brand (or even another brand) somewhat. A popular cover lately is a pink floral 6680 cover that makes the phone look like a pink N70 from a distance. Here again, the price ranges from $3 to $10 or more.

[Lots more on the Thailand mobile scene in this older post.]