Whilst browsing the web might be an extreme example of how this is done (wrong), even smaller changes in input or output can change the interaction methods. Example would be having an extra monitor. The fact that I have two impacts my usage pattern in the sense that I switch less between windows, do much more dragging of content between visible windows, or might have a harder time finding where my windows are hidden.

A more subtle example would be having a scroll wheel on a device that enables you to navigate very quickly through lists (A), vs having to press a button every time you want to go up or down in the list of items (B).

At first glance the implications of this are simply that you’d have to restrict yourself on Device B with the amount of menu’s you can bury in a menu. This however, affects the entire application. Not only do you need to restrict yourself to the amount of items in the list, you need to design the application in such a way that all the features are still accessible. When you can jump up and down in lists without problems, such as in A, you can afford to have a very flat menu structure, perhaps only 2 levels deep. On B, because you can’t fit so much in one screen, you’d need to design in such a way that you can still fit in all the functionality, whilst dealing with the restrictions. It requires a much deeper structure.

This illustrates that even the smallest change on seemingly similar devices require you to think twice about simply porting over your interface from one platform to the next. I don’t read my physical copy of The Economist in the same way as I do with the online version. Why should mobile application be any different?

PS: thanks to Barry for the tip about the lectures.

My topic more or less revolves around location awareness and how to apply it to make new friends, eg, expand your social network.

I would love it it you could get in touch with me via email so I could ask a few questions via instant messenger about this topic, not specifically location awareness, but getting in touch with new people in general .

What’s in it for you? Stand the chance of winning an awesome aka-aki bag containing a shirt, stickers, buttons and sleeve for your mobile (fits the iPhone!). Shipping all over the globe. It looks something like this:

So, if you want to look super cool with all your aka-aki goodies and you can help me out whilst doing so, mail me at peterpixel@gmail.com with any instant message address (msn, yahoo, gtalk, icq etc) that I can use to get in touch and a time that suits.

It goes without saying that the interview is confidential and so is your address.

Thanks in advance!

What is apparent after reading, is that mobile user experience is still in it’s infancy. I was strangely reminded of the early days of Computer Interaction Design (which I didn’t witness, but the literature speaks volumes, excuse the pun). There is still an incredible amount of inconsistency and the myriad of different handsets out there is not making things easier.

The best way to describe this book would be as an introduction to mobile application design. A lot of time is spent explaining the context of mobile devices, not only their usage context, but also the context in which they are sold, what the issues are with carriers, compatibility etc. Which leads me to my biggest criticism:
If you are looking for a book with mobile design guidelines, you will most probably be disappointed. This is dealt with fairly briefly in the sixth chapter, making this book of somewhat less value from a purely Interaction Design point of view. However, as a redeeming point, I feel that taking so much time in looking at what surrounds developing and designing mobile applications is somewhat necessary, given the relative newness of this field.

All in all, I can say I was fairly satisfied with it, although I am still not convinced that this book is worth what it is being sold for (£37.95 at Amazon UK, $64.00 at Amazon US and 43,95 EUR at Amazon DE).

Furthermore, these devices can have applications loaded onto them that enable the knowing and sharing of contextual information. These applications are known as Dynamic Personal Social Network Applications (DPSNA’s), defined by Ingrid Mulder and Henri ter Hofte from the Telematica Institute as applications that sense, mediate, visualize and in some cases interpret dynamic personal social network information as part of their service provided to end-users. (I. Mulder, 2004)
Social networking seems to be what these applications are good at and they could be prevalent in areas where a lot of social networking occurs. One such place is conferences, networking being attendees second most popular reason for attending after maintaining knowledge. (Odden, 2008)

To what extent can Conferences utilize Dynamic Personal Social Network Applications?

Why Conferences?
As mentioned before, networking forms a big motivation in attending conferences. Attendees wear badges around their neck, they want to be identifiable and sharing social network information is commonplace. However, conferences are crowded and on a typical 3 day conference, you would probably have spoken with tens of other attendees. This does not even begin to cover the amount of people attending and neither does it guarantee that the people spoken with are interesting or relevant to your social network at all. Then there is also the problem with remembering who you talked to and why.

The new Palm Pre, an example of a phone capable of running DPSNA’s.

Harnessing Dynamic Personal Social Network Applications
To understand how we can use these applications, we should take a quick look at the technical details surrounding them. Firstly, they are capable of sensing their location geographically and more importantly: their relation to other devices. Different technologies exist to achieve this: BlueAware for example, a technology running in the background of Bluetooth capable devices that enables such a device to be aware of other Bluetooth devices within a range of 10 – 100 meters. (Eagle, 2004) (Bluetooth, 2008)
Due to the size of conferences, this technology is sufficient in locating potential new contacts. Transmitting data amongst devices can happen via aforementioned Bluetooth technology or radio frequency identification technology. (RFID)(AIM, 2001)

If we refer back to the definition of DPSNA’s, we can see that these applications are smart. Through their sensing and mediating capabilities they are able to establish new connections. They are also capable interpreting current social network information e.g. they know who we already know and perhaps who the people that we don’t already know are connected with.

DPSNA’s can be divided into 3 categories: Future, past and present orientation. (I. Mulder, 2004) With the capabilities of DPSNA’s and a conference setting in mind, we can apply these three categories and give a few examples of each such application, whilst further clarifying these categories:

Future Orientation
Here we are using the application to identify potential future contacts. DPSNA’s can also make it easier detecting common ground, an important aspect of establishing new connections. (Clark, 1996) Imagine being able to see a potential new contacts professional history or even shared past colleagues. It makes it much easier to get in touch when these things are already known. The Lovegety, a very short range Japanese device built to let strangers get in touch falls under this category. (L. E. Holmquist, 1999)

Present Orientation
This refers to using the application in a setting where you are already in physical contact e.g. talking but would like to connect digitally. This forms the digital equivalent of exchanging business cards. However, here we can skip past the analogue world and go directly to our social network. This functionality exists already in the form of Pokens, RFID enabled devices capable of sharing social network information and a mobile service called Hallo my name is E, enabling the digital sharing of social networks via your mobile phone. (Poken, Unknown) (Hallo my Name is E, Unknown)

Past Orientation
Now we refer back to our encounters throughout the conference, refreshing the memory as to whom, when and where we spoke. Applications of this type exist in the form of geotagging devices for locating where pictures has been taken and mobile devices that notice when members of a particular social network you are part of have been in the vicinity. (ATP, 2007) (aka-aki networks GmbH, Unknown)

Conclusion
We have seen that conferences are ideal places to use DPSNA’s in order to enrich social networking, in all three types of application orientations. Conferences, where attendees are already wearing identifiers, suggesting that getting to know one another is a natural phenomenon could be a good setting in which to apply DPSNA’s.

Sources

• AIM. (2001). Shrouds of Time – The History of RFID. Pittsburgh: AIM Inc.
• aka-aki networks GmbH. (Unknown, Unknown Unknown). FAQ. Retrieved January 10, 2009, from aka-aki: http://www.aka-aki.com/more/faq
• ATP. (2007, Unknown Unknown). ATP Photo Finder. Retrieved January 10, 2009, from ATP: http://photofinder.atpinc.com/
• Bluetooth. (2008, Unknown Unknown). Compare with Other Technologies. Retrieved January 10, 2009, from Bluetooth: http://www.bluetooth.com/Bluetooth/Technology/Works/Compare/
• Clark. (1996). Using Language. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Eagle, P. (2004). Social Serendipity: Proximity Sensing and Cueing. MIT Media Laboratory Technical Note 580 .
• Hallo my Name is E. (Unknown, Unknown Unknown). Hallo my Name is E. Retrieved January 10, 2009, from Hallo my Nane is E: http://www.hellomynameise.com/
• I. Mulder, H. t. (2004). Dynamic Personal Social Networks: a new perspective for CSCW research and design. Chicago: Unknown.
• L. E. Holmquist, J. F. (1999). Supporting Group Collaboration with Inter-Personal Awareness Devices. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing , 13-21.
• Miluzzo, e. a. (2008). Evaluating the iPhone as a Mobile Platform for People-Centric Sensing Applications. Hanover: Computer Science Department, Dartmouth College.
• Mulder, t. H. (2005). SocioXensor: Measuring user behaviour and user eXperience in conteXt with mobile devices. Enschede: Telematica Instituut.
• Odden. (2008, March 10). Poll: Your top reason for attending marketing conferences? Retrieved January 10, 2009, from TopRank Online Marketing: http://www.toprankblog.com/2008/03/poll-attending-marketing-conferences/
• Poken. (Unknown, Unknown Unknown). How does it Work? Retrieved January 10, 2009, from Poken: http://www.doyoupoken.com/PokenWeb/corporate/howdoesitworks.jsf

So, if you have a mobile phone, take pictures with it and live on planet earth, get in touch!

To get involved simply mail me mobile@peterpixel.nl

Your help will be much appreciated!