Context is king on mobile devices
February 12, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I was interested to see an article on the Webcredible website this month written by the editorial staff at Mobiles.co.uk about improving mobile internet usability. Being quite interested in this space I was naturally keen to hear what they had to say on a topic that's been widely talked about ever since the Wireless Application Protocol 1.0 was introduced over 10 years ago - a vastly different proposition than today's 3G technology.
The article quite rightly addresses the physical challenges of mobile devices such as the keypad, lack of mouse, screen size etc. That's a given; we are all aware of the physical challenges when operating mobile devices. However, what bothered me is that this is all the article focuses upon - the physical tangible aspects of mobile devices. Below is an extract:
Being able to zoom in and out to navigate a web page and view all of its content is a must, as is having the necessary third party software installed (like flash player compatibility for viewing and streaming video from online sites). This is essential in creating a good mobile internet experience on a given handset
Woah, hold on there just a minute. Is zooming in and out on a mobile device, whilst on the bus, holding on to a handle with one hand, a good experience? Is zooming in and out whilst running to find that address of an important appointment, whilst being careful not to spill the hot coffee you have in your other hand, a good experience? For me, the article smells a little bit of trying to reproduce the desktop experience with a mobile, which in my opinion, is a naive take on producing good experiences with mobile devices. So herein lies my gripe.
The mobile experience is in no way the same as a desktop experience - nor should it be. This isn't a bad thing either - the mobile experience is just different, and needs to be treated as such. The mental, physical and interaction spaces of desktops, versus being on the hoof, are completely different. You've heard the old expression that content is king, right? Well, when using a mobile device it's the context that is king. The context of the device being used is where the focus of internet usability needs to be, not just its physical technology. If zooming in and out fits that context, then fine, but it may not necessarily be so, as cited with my examples above. An interesting headspace is to start imagine the term mobile as being the context of use, not the physical device itself. In other words, it's the abstract concept of the person using the device having mobility and the rich experiences to be had with this freedom, not the tangible mobile device itself.
I think focussing solely on the physical technology does a disservice to people using mobile devices because technology is essentially dumb, and doesn't take context of use into account, unless specifically instructed to do so. Aligning the web and the data associated with it for a mobile device doesn't mean being able to zoom in and out like you can on its desktop cousin, it means aligning the information and data to the context of its use, not just providing it because that's what appears on the desktop equivalent.
To give an example, say you were booking cinema tickets. On a desktop application you probably wouldn't think twice about booking them online, however, on a mobile device this could be problematic with navigating through fiddly forms with little buttons - it's possible, but it wouldn't necessarily be a great experience. However, you have a phone in your hands, right; why not link the phone number to the cinema and give the person the ability to phone the cinema direct - that would be a much better experience. This is of course a simple example, but it does demonstrate that designing for context of use is a powerful tool in creating a good experience on a mobile device.
So, improving mobile internet usability isn't just about improving the resolution of screens, keypads, zooming in/out and out having Flash installed etc - it's so much more than this. It's about understanding the context in which people are using their devices, and aligning the information and data to those contexts. The mobile industry as a whole needs to make sure it's attention is not solely on the technology, but also where and how the technology is being used.
- Filed under:
- Data,
- Design,
- Mobile,
- User experience
- Comments are closed
March 21, 2009 at 7:27 am
Badly need your help. I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
I am from Cuba and also am speaking English, give true I wrote the following sentence: “With our cheap flights, low web fares and negotiated airline.”
Thanks for the help 
, Stern.
April 06, 2009 at 8:30 am
I remain optimistic that Mobile 2.0 services, if done right, will integrate the full range of mobile consumer touch points (talking, texting, capturing, sending, listening, viewing) in context.
June 16, 2009 at 7:44 am
In two recent readings, I’ve seen people miss one of the essences of mobile. In the New Media Consortium Horizon report (which has some pretty good points about collective intelligence, collaboration webs, and social operating systems), they talked about mobile broadband and how people are connecting. Which isn’t wrong, but incomplete. In the other, the author mentioned using mobile while waiting for the bus, and further cited a work that insisted people doing mobile learning ‘on the go’ won’t do deep reflection. 642-974 exam
June 28, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Interesting post. Add your blog to my reader.
Andrea Gandino wrote:
February 13, 2009 at 10:05 am
I agree on every single word you said. You need to teach yourself how to shift the focus onto the users, focus on their needs and investigate about how and when they use your product.
The problem is that there’s something substantially wrong with technological advancement. Many times, progress is driven by implementations of stuff that, later in the game, reveals to be useless; still, this stuff may be perceived as cool by the people, thus it’s something that increments profits. This is exactly what the producers want, so they settle on that. But, in my opinion, in order to make something really better, they should focus on getting the existing features more functional and appropriate to the conditions of use of the specific device.
Also, this would make the end users happier, which would likely increments sales anyway.
Good article, it was a pleasure to read!