Updated at least twice a month; This is a blog on usability in India -of software, web, and, consumer products of India. I will also be blogging my observations on how usability affects marketing, product positioning, corporate branding, customer-service and sales. Write to me: sumank ['at'] gmail [dot] com World Usability Day 2006
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Thursday, June 17, 2004

 

User Interface Standards of Mobile Phones

Last night at a birthday party we got talking about mobile phones when my friend Amit told me how frustrated he was with Motorola and Nokia mobile phones. When asked why, he said, 'I replaced my Nokia with this new, sleek Motorola and my phone bill almost doubled!' I was surprised and I didn't hide it. Amit went on to tell me that the button he pushes on a Nokia phone to pick up calls, cancels the call in the Motorola phone. So, every time he cancels -unknowingly- a call on his new Motorola phone, he calls that friend back and explains his predicament. People are so used to Nokia's interface that they expect all mobile phones to behave like Nokia phones. That's the problem. That's the solution too. If I were manufacturing mobile phones I would follow the standards set by Nokia instead of inventing my own. That may sound a bit cheap at the surface but if you give it a thought, it'd make a load of sense. Why re-invent the wheel? Ah, by the way, Amit chucked his Motorola and got back to Nokia. The product's use should drive its design. Not some fancy designer's day dream.
write to me: sumank [at] gmail [dot] com
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