http://www.mobiface.com en Copyright 2005, Eugen Clim mobiface.com http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=79 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:45:08 GMT http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=79
QWERTY layout was designed as an effort to reduce the frequency of mechanical typewriter typebar clashes. It's still the main keyboard layout. Today if you were to design a simple text entry screen keyboard for a device used in portrait mode, would you stick to the "wide" QWERTY layout like that crammed one on Nokia 5800 or design a completely new one?



Calculator keypad is "inverted" to the phone dialpad. It seems no one knows why calculator keypad is using the opposite layout. No calculator manufacturer can provide a meaningful answer on that. Today the phone style keypad became default for ATM UI's and other keypad interfaces.



Snooze time is 9 minutes, because back then the engineers didn't have the flexibility when they added snooze gear to mechanical alarm clocks in the 1950s. The goal was to have a snooze time around 10 min, but the gear could provide only 9 min. Today even the digital clocks have a 9 min snooze. ]]> http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=79 http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=78 Wed, 27 May 2009 07:56:27 GMT http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=78
One of the possible solutions is “flat” UI with additional controls for moving between interface panels. Directional buttons will provide quick switching between different views and joystick/d-pad would be used for navigation within the window.

]]> http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=78 http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=77 Wed, 06 May 2009 01:23:55 GMT http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=77 iriver. They did a nice job on their D-click UI , followed by interesting interface decisions on SPINN. Now the new P7 has the desktop that follows the “Content is the navigation” idea. I’d like to see what they’ll do with the iriver phone.

]]> http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=77 http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=76 Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:36:56 GMT http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=76

Leaked screenshots of Samsung Alias2 show another take on “real-world” interface like Microsoft Bob (or Magic Cap as mentioned in the comment to previous post). Touch interfaces with their direct manipulation paradigm seem to revive this real-world UI concept. The big advantage everyone is after is that the users should be able to quickly transfer their skills from interacting with real-world objects to virtual ones.

Strangely it seems same mistakes are made that lead to Microsoft Bob flop: taking the “real world” approach too literally. Virtual world becomes subject to the limitations of the real world and it becomes impossible to augment the interface beyond the behavior of the real world objects, otherwise the metaphor is ruined.

If you have a “room” metaphor with all applications displayed as real-world objects what happens when you install a new one? How would you fit a lot of status messages in this metaphor? Questions like these would arise creating such interfaces. Ideally real-word UI should borrow the familiar aspect of real world objects, but not also their limitations, feel more like augmented reality then just a virtual copy. Then maybe you won’t need a dog character to guide you through the interface.

(Alias2 desktop image from phoneArena.com) ]]> http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=76 http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=75 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:39:53 GMT http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=75


(Images from Mobile-Review.com) ]]> http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=75 http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=74 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:40:43 GMT http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=74 ]]> http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=74 http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=73 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:51:03 GMT http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=73 ustwo - a very talented design team, focusing on the innovative mobile experience. Site only features some fun side gigs like games and content for now, but the really interesting projects already implemented and upcoming ones are under NDA. Game-changing things are coming to mobile phones, hope will be able so show some of them in the future.

]]> http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=73 http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=72 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:04:14 GMT http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=72
And even better call it some "universal" button and let answer the call/end the call by clicking on it. Remember old 3110, 3210, 3310 Nokias "navi" key?

]]> http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=72 http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=71 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 03:25:58 GMT http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=71
]]> http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=71 http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=70 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:17:31 GMT http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=70

"Musical" prototypes from au KDDI ]]> http://www.mobiface.com/view.php?id=70