The iPhone and Android OS have created a huge market for mobile applications and services through the last two years. If you take a closer look at the most successful Apps (games not counting) you can see that there are six major characteristics they have in common. These attributes are based on a service design level and, if used with thought, make the difference between some playful stuff and a real useful App covering the users needs. more »
Mobile telecommunication devices have penetrated our daily lives and are used by all sections of society. Enforced by flaterates and highly technological gadgets, which combine phones, musicplayers and mobile interent access, they a central role in our daily lives. Mobile phones are used in a variety of contexts and various locations by differnt people for differnet reasons. What is the impact the growing usage and relevance has on our society? That is the central question Ling investigates in his book The Mobile Connection: the Cell Phone’s Impact on Society. more »
Jul 31
The mobile market is not about technology, it is about services. These services will not be consumed because there is a new technical feature, rather they must meet the user’s contextual needs and desires. The 5 M’s, as defined by Tomi T. Ahonen, are the key characteristics which can be used to enhance any service and make them more valuable in the mobile services arena, both as more desirable to the user and more profitable for the service provider. more »
Designing for mobile devices is often compared with designing for desktop systems – same principles, just in small. That might be true up to a certain degree (some basic findings of usage, usability or interaction design can be applied to both), but the mobile experience is more complex. It is set up of social, contextual and engineering factors that intermingle fluently and form a mobile experience with the user in its middle. more »
Mobile phones play an important role in almost every culture. What makes them so special is that they can be used at any time, at any place and at any environment without an extensive training. This condition leads to a high demand on usability. The devices must be usable and intuitiv in their utilization. more »
