SIGIA-L Mail Archives: RE: SIGIA-L: IA re WAP [long]
RE: SIGIA-L: IA re WAP [long]
From: Grant.Larimer_at_luminant.com
Date: Fri Jul 14 2000 - 16:02:41 EDT
First, I would like to heartily thank Vincent for the references. Although
I have not had time to fully review and digest the information, I believe
it is precisely the type of information which I have been seeking. BTW,
what does the term 'manky' mean?
Vincent said:
> Personally, I don't want to interact with my phone a whole lot. The
> interface is what we call over here, manky. PDAs are a different story
and
> where I imagine a lot of the current proposed WAP services will
eventually
> live.
>
> If you're looking to make money from WAP, though, I'd say one thing -
look
> for the queues. If you have a situation where people with phones are
queuing
> up for something then you've got a useful app waiting to happen. Imagine
-
> Dial-A-Guinness.
I definitely agree that cell phones are not the appropriate interface for
direct internet connectivity or robust wireless applications however they
do create a wide variety of possibilities in a more indirect way and I
don't think they should be discounted to quickly. Personally, I have
found my twice daily stock market alerts very helpful. They do not
provide indepth information but I don't need that on a daily basis and it
saves me from having to return to my desk and check the numbers myself. I
agree with Vincent that service queue's would definitely lend themselves
to mobile phones as would other similar types of personal
interconnectivity ideas. I could see a user plugging their cell phone
into an electronic shopping cart to automatically pay for the purchased
items. Developing these types of quick connection applications that
perform a function with limited user interaction on PDA's would be
overkill and would probably diminish the applications usefulness.
The biggest complication facing IA, as indicated in Laura Arlov's book, is
evaluating user context, however, this just begins to scratch the surface.
Not only do we need to know who the user is and what do they want or need
to do, but we must also determine the type of device they are using (i.e.
PDA, cell phone, etc...), their geographical context (i.e. in a store,
car, theatre, etc...), their interpersonal context (i.e. taking care of a
child, navigating a crowded sidewalk, etc...), as well as additional
distracting inputs. How would you structure an application such that a
user, playing pool in a dark pub and four Guinness's in his system, would
be able to order that fifth drink? Perhaps the redial button could be
used.
nadav said:
>Another, less-talked-about route is voice recognition, which I think makes
>a lot more sense for many mobile applications.
I believe you are right and have been following the developments in this
technology, however, this adds yet another level of complexity to this
field. We continue to have difficulty in documenting and displaying 2+
dimensional information spaces, how would a system verbally describe one?
Additionally, would the user need to 'learn' how to interact with the
application or would the application 'learn' how to interpret the user?
I apologize for any comments which walked, or downright raced over, the
IA/usability line. I'm still trying to adjust my perception so that I can
see it clearly. Good day all.
Grant Larimer
Information Architect
Luminant Worldwide
114 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
e: Grant.Larimer_at_luminant.com
w: (212) 842-6434
c: (646) 279-3426
f: (212) 842-6559
nadav <nadav_at_giantant.com>
07/14/00 02:03 PM
To: Vincent O'Keeffe <VOK_at_octagon.ie>
cc: "'Grant.Larimer_at_luminant.com'" <Grant.Larimer_at_luminant.com>,
sigia-l_at_asis.org
Subject: RE: SIGIA-L: IA re WAP [long]
whew.. good stuff, Vincent!
I'd just like to throw my 2 cents in. The way I see it, WAP and WML were
developed to address the specific constraints of mobile devices with tiny,
tiny screens and hobbled input interfaces. I think some of the solutions
make sense in that context, but I'm fairly certain that the hardware
limitations of these devices are too great for them to be widely adopted.
In other words, WAP/WML is a reasonable solution to the wrong problem.
As Vincent suggested, PDAs are a much more likely point of interaction
with mobile apps, and WML (I think) is the wrong language for PDAs.
Another, less-talked-about route is voice recognition, which I think makes
a lot more sense for many mobile applications.
nadav.
-. .- -.. .- ...- ... .- ...- .. ---
On Fri, 14 Jul 2000, Vincent O'Keeffe wrote:
>
> I've been researching WAP as it applies to IA for a few weeks now due to
my
> own increasing interest in the technology and integrating my skills as
an IA
> with this industry. The biggest problem I have found is a lack of
> quantifiable user feedback or research that IA recommendations can be
based
> on. I've contacted makers of wireless devices with the expectation that
> they have performed this research and would want it distributed to
> facilitate development on their devices but so far they have been
> tight-lipped.
>
> Hi
>
> I've been keeping a sceptically-interested eye out on WAP usability/ui
on my
> blog for the past while. It's currently being hyped out of all
proportion
> by the Telecom companies here in Dublin and, indeed all over Europe, and
> largely being ignored by the general populace.
>
> Without going into a 'Where does IA end/Usability start' debate, most of
the
> problems associated with WAP development, seem to fall into the
usability
> end of the spectrum, aside from the blindingly obvious question most WAP
> applications fail to address - "Are we building something our users will
> actually want to use?".
>
> In order that I get some work done today, I'm going to steal liberally
from
> what I've already written to highlight some of the opinions and research
> that's been carried out already.
>
> Laura Arlov, author of GUI for Dummies has some interesting points to
make
> in an interview with David Andersen of UIDesign.net [1]. Her main
concerns
> are:
>
>
> * A medium which employs "baby face" interaction modes vs.
client
> demands for increasingly sophisticated apps
>
> * The difficulty of assessing user context - who is the
user, what
> will they want to do? This and the above are strongly linked. A lot of
> current applications are completely over-blown. A WAP phone is an
> environment where trying to be "all things to all men" is a recipe for
> disaster. Prioritise and strip away, leaving only the things that the
user
> really, really needs. On the issue of determining user context, Andersen
> proposes a technique called Lifestyle Snapshots [2].
>
> * The ill-informed notion that somehow device and
presentation can be
> divorced - another huge issue which puts paid to the notion that
existing
> web pages can be put through the WAP mincer and out will come a
perfectly
> acceptable application at the other end.
>
>
> One research study which includes an attempt to do just that is 'Two
> Approaches to Bringing Internet Services to WAP Devices' by researchers
in
> VTT Information Technology in Finland [3]:
>
> I have a pretty comprehensive summary of their extensive and interesting
> findings with commentary available here [4].
>
> The main idea it sparked off with me however is the disconnect between
web
> content browsing and what the user is normally using the phone to do -
> messaging, address book etc. Therefore the user is having to reset
> navigation models when browsing web content - kind of like what you do
when
> you drive on ice - which is a severe headwreck and a major
platform-related
> usability issue.
>
> Lastly, some researchers at MobileThink found the following with respect
to
> WAP usage [5].
> Speed again is a big usability issue. Current implementations are quite
> slow.
> Clicks - you lose up to half your users per click made
> Entering text - only one out of 8 could or were willing to perform the
task
>
> If this is generally true, then WAP is the harshest user-centred design
> environment yet.
>
> They were unable to make any recommendations as to whether users
preferred
> broad or narrow hierarchies but I would personally bet on flat
hierarchies
> unless you are one hundred percent confident that you're labelling gives
off
> enough scent that users will know which path to take.
>
> More heavy duty references are at the bottom of this mail.
>
> I also really recommend looking at Casey's article as a great starting
> point - cheers, Casey.
>
> In summary, it seems the top three things to watch out for are:
> Build apps people need - not because marketing want to get a PR out the
door
> :-)
> Build WAP apps from the ground up - the interface constraints are simply
too
> unforgiving to not do otherwise
> Try to reduce the amount of typed input a user has to make.
>
> Personally, I don't want to interact with my phone a whole lot. The
> interface is what we call over here, manky. PDAs are a different story
and
> where I imagine a lot of the current proposed WAP services will
eventually
> live.
>
> If you're looking to make money from WAP, though, I'd say one thing -
look
> for the queues. If you have a situation where people with phones are
queuing
> up for something then you've got a useful app waiting to happen. Imagine
-
> Dial-A-Guinness.
>
> Regards,
> Vincent O' Keeffe
> Octagon Technologies
> Mersault*Thinking Blog - http://www.mersault.com/thinking
> <http://www.mersault.com/thinking>
>
>
> [1] http://www.uidesign.net/2000/interviews/arlov2.html
> <http://www.uidesign.net/2000/interviews/arlov2.html> - Interview with
> Laura Arlov
> [2] http://www.uidesign.net/2000/papers/lifestylesnapshot.html
> <http://www.uidesign.net/2000/papers/lifestylesnapshot.html> - Lifestyle
> Snapshots Technique
> [3] http://www9.org/w9cdrom/228/228.html
> <http://www9.org/w9cdrom/228/228.html> - 'Two Approaches to Bringing
> Internet Services to WAP Devices'
> [4]
http://www.mersault.com/thinking/archives/2000_07_09_archive.htm#451718
>
http://www.mersault.com/thinking/archives/2000_07_09_archive.htm#451718> -
> Commentary on above
> [5] http://www.anywhereyougo.com/ayg/ayg/wireless/Article.po?id=11350
> <http://www.anywhereyougo.com/ayg/ayg/wireless/Article.po?id=11350> -
> Mobilethink Findings
>
> http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~johnson/papers/mobile/HCIMD1.html
> <http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~johnson/papers/mobile/HCIMD1.html> - First
> Workshop on HCI with Mobile Devices. Warning: This page is huge.
> http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~mark/research/workshops/mobile99/
> <http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~mark/research/workshops/mobile99/> - Second
> Workshop on HCI with Mobile Devices
>
>
>
>
>
>
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