First of all, some context MOBILE USER EXPERIENCE inspiring new ways of design and development Antony Ribot, CEO, Ribot

First of all, some context then studied ants, bees and termites joined the mobile scene 5 years ago co-founded ribot 1.5 years ago BACKGROUND started at tomato (’99) ceo / art director

Why does ribot exist? explore and play with interfaces in small spaces passion for creating things under many constraints push UI boundaries

MethodRelationship Personal definitions Interaction design how the user interacts with the object User experience the qualitative emotional description of multiple interactions with an object

The user-centered developer a bridge between designer and developer not a role for every developer does not replace traditional UX expert (A NOTE TO DEVS) develops with the user in mind why the need for the new role?

What’s different about mobile UX mobile UX deals with many more constraints goal: to make a positive impact on the experience UX is in its infancy (AS A FIELD)

Constraints of mobile network latency input mechanism memory form factor computational power context battery THERE ARE MANY

The mobile environment IT’S LIKE MARS single early failure = non-returning user

Mars, Neptune, Pluto... handset range operators data allowance / pricing THE ENVIRONMENT DIFFERS, DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU ARE e.g. South Africa, Europe, Japan... user behaviour

How to deal with Mars Leave the hard stuff to desktop web develop relationship as quickly as possible user retention is a good indicator of product performance, but loyalty is minimal in mobile

like a large bag of chocolate buttons Time for a snack... small snippets of info seconds simple, but repetitive regular DATA-SNACKING

Re-use learnt behaviours Re-use interactions inherent in the device Minimise the number of surprises soft key positions menu navigation colour tone of voice

vs Mobile is not about making things smaller smalleraller MiniaturisationMobilisation

It’s all about the subtleties Fewer options = simple and more effective interface Polish makes the UX and app stand out

Working around the 3G icon

Reward-based exploration keep it as simple as possible (the hard part) allow the user to play within safe boundaries user’s comfort increases sense of exploration increases discovery of features almost by accident FOCUSING ON THE KEY FEATURE AND DOING IT WELL

Opera Mini page by page scrolling A REWARD-BASED MOBILE BROWSER

Short-cuts in the soft key menu Opera Mini A REWARD-BASED MOBILE BROWSER

How to deal with diversity select lead handsets for your target audience use the design process to tackle “graceful degradation”

Workshop Idea exploration Paper wireframes Formalised digital wireframes User/expert testing Aesthetic concepts Screen design Rapid prototype Docs Art direction Mobile UX - the easier path

Why use rapid prototyping test ideas quickly in a tangible environment extremely useful reference for developers an interactive showcase of the intended UX

Mobile rapid prototyping tools Flash (lite v3.0) XHTML + CSS Nokia Web Runtime Silverlight

One design doesn’t fit all Input mechanisms require their own design Touch screen elements need to look interactive large enough to press? Nav-pad driven action-based language make the most of simple nav

Questions Antony Ribot ribot.co.uk