Yu Centrik

While walking through the Berri-UQAM Subway Station in Montreal, I noticed that a cell-phone company named Koodo (a low-cost brand of Telus) has implemented touch-screen interfaces on the walls of the station. The system is very flashy and sure to garner some attention, but after playing the “find Koodo” game on the system, I quickly ran into a very frustrating interface design error.

You’ll notice I have a real hard time navigating as I try to move the screen around. I was expecting the game to remain consistent with touch-screen standards and real-world physics, allowing me hold and drag the map. Instead, touching the screen moves the on-screen view directly to the part of the map which corresponds to that part of the screen. For instance, when I touch the top right corner of the screen, the on-screen view moves directly to the top-right corner of the map. This interface is not natural and took me several tries to figure out. My confusion was further multiplied by the few occasions where the system seemed to actually work the way I expected, prolonging the usability interference. Don’t take my word for it; next time you’re in the metro, give it a try and let us know what you thought!

Here is a short account of our experiences with the iPhone after three weeks of use.

Joëlle - iPhone: 20 days

For: The all-in-one concept is unbelievably efficient. The integration of the range of tools and features (hands-free phone, e-mail, Web access, ipod, itunes, photos, camera, GPS, contact, calendar and the ability to quickly download widgets) is a pure pleasure to use! Navigation is simple, the “menu” button is a must, the sound and graphics are very high quality, altogether the system works great! Interactions in general are amazing.

Against: Simplicity has its compromises! Personally, I think there are too many essential features hidden in the second level; I don’t have the time to figure them all out. I’m guessing this might be typical behaviour for a woman focused on tasks rather than using my iPhone as a toy.  And yes, it’s true… men and women do not behave the same in the face of technology. Maybe I’m just not the target audience.  Fortunately, there is a Marcio (a playful man) in the next office, who certainly will explore and discover the potential of this small device so I can regularly ask: “Marcio, do you know how to do this…? “.

Here are some of the essential features that caused me minor frustrations because they weren’t present in the first level of the interface:

• The quick contact search placed at the top of the contact list is hidden when you descend down the list.  I couldn’t find it after searching for a while.  Once I realized that it was located at the top, I also realized I could jump quickly to the beginning of the list by pressing my finger on the right-side scroll bar.

• Adding a new name to the contact list: it takes three manipulations to add a contact, too many in my opinion.

• When reading mail, two icons do not seem explicit enough: a folder with an arrow at the bottom which leads to the main email menu and an arrow to the left to respond to a message (this iconography is to usually used to go back).

• The location of accented characters (when typing in French). Again, I had to look around for a long time before finding them. In order to do it, you’re supposed to maintain pressure for 1 or 2 seconds on the letter, and then select accented characters from a bubble which appears.

• It was not clear how to move around the large tool blocks on the home screen at first.  You have to maintain pressure on one of the tools and as soon as the square starts trembling, then you can move them from one page to another.

• Another point of concern, the degree of dexterity and precision necessary to use the keyboard caused many errors which discouraged me several times to respond to an e-mail from the iPhone, attention to those with big fingers!

• In the same vein, too much precision is required to “catch” a key like the one used to quick-erase a message from the inbox. It’s always a bit random and the probability of hitting it twice in a row is low, I always end up in the wrong place; the email opens, requiring a round trip to return to the list.

• Also, the screen gets dirty quickly, and it must be cleaned often.

To conclude, I love my new gadget.  Once you discover the functionalities, they seem so transparent and obvious “of course!”.

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Marcio: iphone: 21 days

For: The integration of so many functions into one device is very well done. The multi-touch interface is efficient in its use of natural movements (drag, open fingers, close, etc.) and its ability to recreate the sensation of touching a button (for example, by expanding characters typed on the keyboard).

The fluidity of interaction is incredible, mainly due to the fact that interface transitions obey the same physical laws of the real world which our brains naturally predict. The acceleration and feedback of interface components are very natural actions corresponding directly to mental models we have all formed from observing the behaviour of objects in the real world. The “machine” aspect of the device is masked by a very sophisticated interaction design.

Against: The keyboard requires a little patience, but it is not impossible to use; it just takes a few days of practice. Keeping your iPhone in its anti-shock rubber sleeve makes it more difficult to use the keys located at the far left and right of the screen (this is a problem especially since the sleeve really is necessary).

The automatic correction of text is a major irritant. I write mainly in French and Portuguese and, regardless of the language chosen for the interface, the corrector still proceeds in English and there doesn’t seem to be any way to disable it!  Writing a message is very long and frustrating. (In fact, I just found out how to change the automatic correction to a language other than English, but still no way to turn it off…). Someone help?

Another thing that doesn’t pertain directly to the interface, but still has an impact on the overall user experience, is the battery life. Even with very little use, the device requires a recharge at least once a day. Is this the price we pay for so many features?

Research in “auditory psychophysics” represents the deep-level study of how the physics of sound is represented by our conscious mind. So what does that have to do with interface design? Well… anything that connects to human perception has implications on how we might perceive an interface. Taking the next logical step, modern research on sound perception can, and does, have implications for the next generation of audio interfaces (true for both a complete audio interface such as an automated phone system, or simply the audio aspect of a multi-modal interface such as a cell-phone ring). Examples of this trend can be seen surrounding interface ideas related to hearing loss.

First, let’s target the implications of research and technology geared toward accessibility for those suffering from hearing loss. Hearing aids have participated in an endless struggle with the telephone since their inception. Imagine your phone conversations continually interrupted by the amplified sound of your hearing aid bumping against your telephone. This is only one of many accessibility problems for hearing aid users. This problem multiplies in severity when compounded with the inability of microphones to distinguish relevant sounds from background noise (a factor which has expanded with the advent of using cell-phones in public places). So who has the answer? … Nokia does, with their Wireless Loopset. This exceptional device is sure to be the first of a series of accessible solutions. The Loopset uses BlueTooth technology to actually turn your hearing-aid into your cell-phone headset, an elegant and complete solution.

Another demonstration concerns a condition known as presbycusis: a loss of sensitivity to high-frequency sound that emerges with age. In general, the older you get, the more difficulty you have hearing high-pitched noises. The condition emerges from the degeneration of certain neural receptors in the cochlea (a hydraulic pump within your ear designed to separate complex sounds into their individual components). The first “researchers” to jump on adopting interface implications from this were, in fact, young British students with mischievous intentions. It’s really quite brilliant; students configured their cell-phones to play an extremely high frequency ringtone (named ‘Mosquito’ in its original implementation by a Welsh security company). Ironically, this tone was first designed to disperse loitering teenagers while leaving adults unaffected. In this case, however, older professors could not detect the sound of their students text-messaging each other across the room. This anecdote raises two open questions:

• How could we use this principle in a commercially viable device?
• Are you young enough to hear the sound?

In the last article, we saw a few websites simulated on the new iPhone. From these examples, it became clear that sites in general will need adjustment to enable easy navigation on browsers like the iPhone’s Safari. Such adjustment should be geared mainly toward improving the display and optimizing it for use with small screens.

These are only the minimum necessary adaptations to make a site usable. However, there will be some situations which call for taking an additional step beyond just a beautiful display. The real revolution of the iPhone, especially the new 3G, goes beyond simple Web surfing; such technology can harbor much more intelligent applications.

When one wonders what sites could benefit from new technologies like GPS, for example, the web presence of real estate agents comes to mind as a salient example. Imagine your phone delivering immediate information about a house for sale while you pass directly in front of it. No more time spent getting lost in the navigation while searching among hundreds of ads, as is the current practice. Scenarios like this can be easily realized with the 3G iPhone, coming out this week (or already out if you read this after July 11th).

The iPhone’s landing on Canadian soil, as I already mentioned in my previous blog, provides us with a new platform and a whole new paradigm of human-computer interaction.

Until we have the real iPhone in our hands (Quebec launch date is July 11th… yes I know, we are way behind), I wanted to help you imagine its browsing experience using a few Quebecoise websites.  We used Apple’s simulator to generate the screens in the portrait and landscape formats you see below.

In today’s post, we’re only simulating news sites… but in the coming weeks, screenshots of sites in other categories will make their appearance on this blog.

• It is held in place by simple suction cup and plugged into the lighter. We stuck it under the rearview mirror, a little to the side to make sure it didn’t distract the driver.
• Once the information is entered into the system, the car becomes an arrow on the screen.
• The distance traveled, how many kilometers left to go, and the time estimated of arrival is always indicated so you’ll be able to answer that pesky question, “How much longer?”, very quickly
• In case of driver error, your position will automatically be re-calculated and the GPS will adapt its route according to where you are.
• Find the closest parking or gas station in just three or four easy steps by using the touch screen. It’s better not to do this while driving
• Activate or deactivate the voice option (female or male voice with translations in two or three languages). This way you don’t have to constantly check the screen and you can concentrate on driving and keeping an eye out for external dangers (other cars, bikes, traffic lights, road signs, etc.). Using it can also be intrusive if you’re listening to music or if you just don’t feel like having someone pipe up every time you turn onto a new street.
• Get software updates on their Internet site. You can also save your favourite routes and refer to them before you leave.