My Observations of the iPad

Last week, useit.com published a preliminary report on the iPad. I had to read the review as it was the first review of the device + I have been using the device myself.
I found the article to be too lengthy, too general and vague to be applicable. The article should be renamed to – Expert reviews for some iPad apps.

So here’s me on my take on the iPad and busting a few “myths” propagated by the study.

ipad is
1 a container for apps and 2 an input device (on-screen keyboard). It does these jobs pretty well.

+ves
1 There is one exit button for all apps- the big button on the device.
2 When you paginate through the apps and reach the beginning, app search appears. This feature integrates well in the swiping experience.
3 Any application breadcrumb can be found on the top left.
4 I dont miss mouseover. Or do I? Time will tell.
5 Watching movies is a great experience, mainly because of decent stereo speakers.

-ves
1 Volume slider on ipad does not tell you which way to mute or full volume.
2 The tilt lock is not apparent.
3 no consistent pagination behavior in some native apps (ex: ibooks).

Myths

1 iPad apps are inconsistent and have low feature discoverability-

All adobe air apps are made different, have different interface components and have ”weird interaction styles”. How can you blame Adobe or MS Windows for these completely different apps?

Even the web browsing experience on the pc is unique on different websites. Hovering over a picture could produce completely different results.

A bad example of a touch interaction is the scroll behavior in HTC HD2. You touch and drag the finger down or touch and drag the finger up to scroll!!. Two completely opposite paradigms for scroll. And thats a OS issue not an app.

2 Cant hit small targets on websites-

A netbook with a touchpad as input will have a similar browsing experience. I don’t need to see a pointer as a visual indication. The touch software in the iPad is pretty accurate in deciding what I want to click. As far as I am concerned, if you can browse on a netbook, you can browse here too.

3 Quoting Jef Raskin saves the research-

Did not see the name-dropping any useful to the review. His great insight on card sharks vs holy scrollers works for any type of screen- big or small. but I do not understand its need to be applied specifically to the iPad.

There were some strange tasks on which the study was based. For a comic book app, the task chosen was “Delete the copy that you have just downloaded.” Why would I throw away the book that I just bought?

Design Suggestions for iPad Apps-

1 would love to have a “most frequently used apps” page or button
2 quick access for apps (search)
3 “show hints” button on the top left of each app. clicking which will show an overlay about what is touchable or not.
4 have to rethink of the hover action for interactive objects
5 test apps for usability and then update them.

If you are interested see some great iPad UX guidelines at UXMAG..
What the article needs is to show the best and worst practices for designing apps. Following is great review for the iPhone. I would definitely want to hear what these guys find about the iPad.

How people really use the iPhone

Filed under: Ideas, Mind Musings

Its Not That Easy..

Update (Sep 25 08)
Teachers have been using Samorost in their classrooms for students to learn analytical and critical thinking skills. Another teacher talks in length about reasons children should play Samorost. The interesting thing to note here is that the teachers are using the same game which everyone plays and not a modified version.

Update (Sep 1 08)
The design team behind Samorost are working on a full-length game called Machinarium. I was reading an interview they gave, and the most interesting thing that I found was they did the BBC game only because they needed money to make ‘their kind’ of games.

<Original Post>

I eagerly clicked on the link to play Questionaut. After all, it was by the guys who had made Samorost.
(If you have not played Samorost, I suggest go play it before reading ahead. Make sure to play the game with your headphones on).

Samorost2 (2005)

Samorost is pure magic! Its an engaging and well thought-out puzzle game. The basic goal of Samorost is to get the guy’s dog back. There are basic levers and push button mechanisms which u need to “play with” in order to solve a puzzle and move ahead. The ambiance of the game is amazing. But am not reviewing the game here.

The same creators have made a ‘educational’ game for BBC titled ‘Questionaut‘. The goal in this is to get the guy’s hat back. On various levels, there are planet-heads who ask you questions. The gameplay is almost the same as Samorost. Still, the magic is missing. And the kids love the problem solving part and not the questions. Here’s proof.

Questionaut (2008)

(Click on the image to play the game)

How the magic is lost? I think its because it feels as if we’re playing two games- the ‘Fun’ game and the ‘Questions’ game. The fun part is when you to make the planet rulers ask you questions. After that, its just multiple choice questions.

I don’t blame the creators, but I certainly believe that this kind of parallel format neither brings fun nor education. The only motivation for me was to see the fun part in the next level. By the time I’ve finished the game, I forgot what is a preposition and a conjunction. They did not think about how the questions could be integrated into the game. And its not easy to make such a game.

Have a few ideas how to do it. Will share them in another post.

Filed under: Mind Musings

Product-ive Thoughts?

Creating UGC

How to go about building a web service (a designers perspective)

vision1 : acquired mobile blogging technology – want to give it a new face and launch
vision2 : make a fun blogging service for both web and mobile with focus on community building/social networking

what core area are we getting into ?
> web + mobile
> cameraphones
> photo-sharing
> blogging
> social networking
> all

competitors’ analysis
> their feature set – whats popular
> see what features matches with our “unique vision”
> whats the face/package of the service like
> also look at less popular ones – might find something valuable
>
==
whats blogging ?
do people know whats blogging ?
do people like blogging ?
do we want them to blog ?
==
do people use cameraphone to click photos ?
how many people use cameraphones as their main camera ?
why do they shoot pictures with their cameraphones ?
do they care about the quality of the shots they are taking ?
==
how many people blog thru their mobile ?

==
what we call blogging is done regularly by very few people

for a mass product, most popular between cameraphone, blogging and photo-sharing is photo-sharing

photo-sharing can be done from both web and mobile
photo-sharing is easier compared to blogging
blogging sounds very technical so not a ‘mass’ concept (examples of mySpace and flickr)
blogging means regular participation – photo-sharing can be occasional – people want freedom to click at their own time

most popular photo-shatring applications expand (add features) with time ex. photobucket

Whats the acquired tech do ?
photo uploading and sharing from both web and mobile

Advantage of mobile -
while it is happening
on the move

whose waiting at the other end ?
For what ?  (giving proof of something
Isnt there another way of doing all this ?
Why would motivate people to use only this method ?
Whats the urgency of uploading then and there ?
if the battery is dwindling, then priority would be to take a call, not take a pic

photos are of use-and-throw nature
can be great representation tools
click magazine photos

Click photo of what u have to do (people, place, events, typo, banners)
Click photo of what u would want to have (wishlist, objects, person, celebrities)
Make your own icons/visual representation (a person’s face for her birthday)
Recording voice (

Most recently uploaded (I was here)

Auto-change status

Innovative but Useless FUN

http://emptybottle.org/bullshit/

Innovative but somewhat Useful SERIOUS
WIRED Jargon-o-tron

Zoomerang

google analytics
widsets
splashblog

Filed under: Mind Musings