Hello,

As part of the upcoming Mobile Design UK meeting, we want to know about your most positive mobile experience! Please email, text or Tweet (@marekpawlowski) your favourite example of truly user-focused mobile design to Marek Pawlowski. He'll be highlighting 3 examples in his talk `15 minutes of Positive Mobile Experience'. Please keep your suggestions short and `Tweet' - i.e. no longer than you'd send in a text.

Cheers,

Bryan

Hello,

Just thought I'd drop a quick email to the list regarding MobileCamp
Brighton which is scheduled to be held on Saturday February 28th.

More information is available on the website.
http://mobiledesign.org.uk/events/mobilecamp-brighton/

Cheers,

Bryan

City University and Human Factors International are happy to co-host
"Mobile Persuasion"
Persusasion, Emotion, and Trust are the design rage, but how are they
applied to mobile user interfaces? Influential speakers will come
together to present their views in brief presentations, followed by an
engaging panel discussion.

When: 19 January 2009, 18:30 - 21:00
Where: City University London
    Northampton Square
    London EC1V 0HB
    Tel: +44 (0)20 7040 5060
Cost: FREE to the public (but you must RSVP!)
RSVP: http://mobilepersuasionevent.eventbrite.com

Speakers
>Bryan Rieger, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Yiibu
>The "artist/craftsman" point of view on Persuasive Design

>Kath Straub, Ph.D., Chief Scientist of Human Factors International
>How to design for Persuasion, Emotion, and Trust: drives & blocks,
design markers, and good and bad real world examples

>Additional speaker, TBD

Detailed Descriptions
>Bryan Rieger, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Yiibu
>The "artist/craftsman" point of view on Persuasive Design
"If driving a BMW promises the consumer 'Sheer Driving Pleasure'
(formerly the 'Ultimate Driving Machine'), what does your mobile phone
promise (and more importantly what does it deliver)? Where are the
craftsmen, dreamers and lunatics who inspire (and persuade) us to
'think differently'?"

Bio: Bryan is a designer and researcher with a background in theatre
design and classical animation. He has over 15 years' experience in
design and development and has worked across all media, including
print, video, multimedia, the internet and mobile. Bryan has worked
with clients such as Apple, Microsoft, Nokia and Monotype. He became
obsessed with all things mobile while on sabbatical in South East Asia
in 2003 watching people do simply amazing—and unexpected things—with
their mobile devices. Although he's adopted Bangkok, Thailand as his
official home-away-from home Bryan currently lives in London, UK where
he runs Yiibu - a small mobile design studio, with his partner Stephanie.

>Kath Straub, Ph.D., Chief Scientist of Human Factors International
>How to design for Persuasion, Emotion, and Trust: drives & blocks,
design markers, and good and bad real world examples

Bio: Kath has 15 years of empirical research experience overlaid on 10
years of project management and interface design experience. She's
taught extensively and designed curricula both for university and
industrial/commercial settings. Her clients include government
agencies, companies in pharmaceuticals, aviation, finance, health and
medicine, and education. She currently leads a team of usability and
accessibility professionals, graphics artists, and project managers
working on projects for clients throughout the world. Kath approaches
usability as the intersection of experimental cognition, social
psychology, marketing, and technology.

When: 19 January 2009, 18:30 - 21:00
Where: City University London
    Northampton Square
    London EC1V 0HB
    Tel: +44 (0)20 7040 5060
Cost: FREE to the public (but you must RSVP!)
RSVP: http://mobilepersuasionevent.eventbrite.com

Hi,
over the last two weeks we put together a little content sonar project
at lastminute.com labs. We would like to invite G1 (the android phone)
users to test it out in a private beta.

Feel free to email me comments based on the video as well :)

cheers, Mathias


general web page here:
http://labs.lastminute.com/nru/

youtube video direct link:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fMA7wAU5BH0

Hi, I thought that it might be worth to highlite my last comments in the q&a.

Windows Mobile (not all but a fair chunk of WM5 and WM6) and Android
based phones does have access to gelocation through gears:

http://code.google.com/apis/gears/api_geolocation.html

It probably takes 1hr to throw in and test the script. It uses cell
and wifi positioning, hence it also works on laptops etc with and
active wifi card and gears installed. We have a beta service here that
you can check out.

http://labs.lastminute.com/radar/

Looking forward to meeting you Pei, see you there!
BTW, if youa re into QR codes- BTW did you see this in London
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3760049.ece
I came across it on the Tea building at Commercial Road as well.
Wonder how many people tried it..

--- In mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com, "pei_chi_lo" <peichilo@...> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> This is Pei Chi in Brighton. I am interested in Flash game design for
> mobile and the QR code.
>
> I hope that I will make it to the event on the 3rd of December and meet
> some of you then.
>
> Pei Chi
>

Hello all,

This is Pei Chi in Brighton. I am interested in Flash game design for
mobile and the QR code.

I hope that I will make it to the event on the 3rd of December and meet
some of you then.

Pei Chi

Hello Everybody,


I am Renato Rebelo. I working wiht mobile marketing for a wile. I am media
planner.

Mobile is rising fast here in Brazil and altought i am not a developer,  plannig
mobile demands a bit of desing, IT and compatibilities knowlodge.

Mobiles ads is starting here and I am looking for an Ad Server license for
mobile devices and CMS content management systesm

Does anyone could recommend an ad server  and a CMS for mobile?

Thanks very much,

renato rebelo






       Veja quais são os assuntos do momento no Yahoo! +Buscados
http://br.maisbuscados.yahoo.com

Hi Barbara-
Thanks for sending that link & yes I did come across that link and
have been in touch with Morten.. his blog is great for mobile design.

I was trying to get my hands on the .ttf fonts itself. I did come
across an Italian Motorola modding group
http://www.tuttomotorola.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-2897.html
(For Segoe & Synergy Basic) but the fonts I found there were in .sbf
format)
I am still trying to locate the font set itself and am yet to find a
site which does this fully. Maybe we should set it up here under
resources with a Creative Commons license?
Cheers
P


--- In mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com, "Barbara Ballard"
<barbara@...> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 7:16 AM, priprakash2000 <priya@...> wrote:
> > Can someone point out to me a site/resource which has different native
> > handset mobile web browser fonts that I can use for my Fireworks
> > wireframes for each main handset across secreen size 240+, 160 and
120 px?
>
> Morten Hjerde addressed this question fairly thoroughly in January:
>
> http://sender11.typepad.com/sender11/2008/01/prototyping-mob.html
>
> ~~~~
> Barbara Ballard
> barbara@... 1-785-838-3003
>

On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 7:16 AM, priprakash2000 <priya@...> wrote:
> Can someone point out to me a site/resource which has different native
> handset mobile web browser fonts that I can use for my Fireworks
> wireframes for each main handset across secreen size 240+, 160 and 120 px?

Morten Hjerde addressed this question fairly thoroughly in January:

http://sender11.typepad.com/sender11/2008/01/prototyping-mob.html

~~~~
Barbara Ballard
barbara@... 1-785-838-3003

Hello,

Details for the first event have been posted.
http://mobiledesign.org.uk/events/the-revolution-will-be-mobilized-december-3rd-
event/

If you're planning on attending be sure to add your details to the sign-up list:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mobiledesign-uk/database?
method=reportRows&tbl=1

Hope to see you all there.

Cheers,

Bryan

Priya,

We've been running into the same problems regarding device specific fonts.
This topic came up in conversation at the recent Flash Mobile UK user group
meeting
specific to Device Central and how it doesn't use device specific fonts in it's
HTML and
Flash previews - which means you can't rely on it for accurate previews.

Many of the fonts have been created for and/or licensed exclusively to the
device
manufacturers from the font foundries - and there currently doesn't seem to be
any
movement toward making them available to designers.

As to your question about what does everyone else use?

We use a few OEM specific fonts that we've been provided with other the years
(incredibly
handy), along with a few pixel fonts (http://www.miniml.com/) where they're
deemed
'close' - then Arial for pretty much everything else. :(

I'm really hoping the likes of Adobe, Monotype, Nokia, SE, etc might start to
help mobile
designers by making many of these fonts available (free or purchase).

Not a great answer, but type on mobile is big issue that nobody is really
talking about yet.

Bryan

--- In mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com, "priprakash2000" <priya@...> wrote:
>
> Hello all-
> Can someone point out to me a site/resource which has different native
> handset mobile web browser fonts that I can use for my Fireworks
> wireframes for each main handset across secreen size 240+, 160 and 120 px?
> I am using http://ready.mobi/emulator, but would love to get my hands
> on fonts used in the mobile web browsers for:
> Sony Ericsson k750i
> Samsung z105
> Nokia n70
> Motorola v3i
> Sharp GX-10
>
> What default font size does everyone use for mobile web mockups? I
> know in the end it doesn't matter etc as my developers have pointed
> out to me that this function is not very well supported across various
> browsers. But I would like to persist and attempt at atleast having
> something come pretty close to each of the above handsets.  (It helps
> me judge the size of the link label text and see what goes above fold
> and below fold etc.)
>
> 12pt Arial for everything doesn't help >:-0
> Any pointers on how everyone else approaches the issue of handset
> based native browser font sizes for Mobile Web wireframes would be
> most useful. Thanks in advance-
> Cheers
> P
>

Hello all-
Can someone point out to me a site/resource which has different native
handset mobile web browser fonts that I can use for my Fireworks
wireframes for each main handset across secreen size 240+, 160 and 120 px?
I am using http://ready.mobi/emulator, but would love to get my hands
on fonts used in the mobile web browsers for:
Sony Ericsson k750i
Samsung z105
Nokia n70
Motorola v3i
Sharp GX-10

What default font size does everyone use for mobile web mockups? I
know in the end it doesn't matter etc as my developers have pointed
out to me that this function is not very well supported across various
browsers. But I would like to persist and attempt at atleast having
something come pretty close to each of the above handsets.  (It helps
me judge the size of the link label text and see what goes above fold
and below fold etc.)

12pt Arial for everything doesn't help >:-0
Any pointers on how everyone else approaches the issue of handset
based native browser font sizes for Mobile Web wireframes would be
most useful. Thanks in advance-
Cheers
P

Excellent idea Ali, I would love to hear more about Adobe Device
Central. Would love it if you can do a quick 10-15 mins overview on
how you have incoporated Device Central within your design worklow.
We work in Mobile Web as well and are keen to share tips of the trade
on  designing for Mobile Web.
Cheers
Priya (Flirtomatic)

--- In mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com, "alastair.driver"
<alastair.driver@...> wrote:
>
> Hey Bryan,
>
> Good to hearfromyou. Let me introduce myself to the rest of the group.
> I'm Alastair Driver (Ali for short)and work at Trutap, a company
> hoping to build great user interfaces for java enabled mobile phones.
> I say hoping as we are always striving to do better.
>
> Myjob is to create components and icons as well as flows for great
> user experience. Topics currently on my radar (we are close to
> launching our v2 product) are:-
>
> prototyping techniques, especially rapid prototyping,so user
> interfcaes can be tested quickly without getting to the point of full
> integration coding only tofind the interface doesn't work.
>
> As much as sketching, fireworks comps andwireframes can fulfillalot of
> the tasks, there is really no substitute forhaving something in your
> hand and on screen.
>
> The tool I have found invaluable is flash lite and device central. Its
> a dream to work with. ANy one elseany thoughts on this?
>
> Mobile web is also a massive player in the mobile world.
> But how to approach the design? Lowest common denominator? Mobile
> AJAX? I probably have more questions than answers...
>
> Touch screen is a whole different ballpark, and one which could be
> hard to get right - its a totaly different experience,but one that we
> willall have to become increasingly familiar with,not just due to the
> massive popularity of the iphone,but other touchscreen devices (most
> done fairly badly) are coming to market all the time.
>
> I'd probably be happy to do some form of presentation,ideally on one
> of the subjects above...
>
> Happy mobile ux'ing!
>
> Ali
>

Hey Bryan,

Good to hearfromyou. Let me introduce myself to the rest of the group.
I'm Alastair Driver (Ali for short)and work at Trutap, a company
hoping to build great user interfaces for java enabled mobile phones.
I say hoping as we are always striving to do better.

Myjob is to create components and icons as well as flows for great
user experience. Topics currently on my radar (we are close to
launching our v2 product) are:-

prototyping techniques, especially rapid prototyping,so user
interfcaes can be tested quickly without getting to the point of full
integration coding only tofind the interface doesn't work.

As much as sketching, fireworks comps andwireframes can fulfillalot of
the tasks, there is really no substitute forhaving something in your
hand and on screen.

The tool I have found invaluable is flash lite and device central. Its
a dream to work with. ANy one elseany thoughts on this?

Mobile web is also a massive player in the mobile world.
But how to approach the design? Lowest common denominator? Mobile
AJAX? I probably have more questions than answers...

Touch screen is a whole different ballpark, and one which could be
hard to get right - its a totaly different experience,but one that we
willall have to become increasingly familiar with,not just due to the
massive popularity of the iphone,but other touchscreen devices (most
done fairly badly) are coming to market all the time.

I'd probably be happy to do some form of presentation,ideally on one
of the subjects above...

Happy mobile ux'ing!

Ali

Hi barbara,

thanks for the links, really interesting content.

Matt Pollitt
www.outside-media.co.uk/blog

On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 5:33 PM, Stephanie Rieger <steph@...> wrote:
> Speaking of maps...just ran into this example of a Google Android
> application (!!) with an interesting take on mobile mapping...allowing for
> annotations and photos to provide visual and contextual cues for
> navigation...
>
> http://www.springwise.com/telecom_mobile/using_pictures_to_give_directi/
>

Started to download this app on the G1. Lets see if its cool :)

> Steph
>
> Yiibu: Mobile user experience and design
> http://yiibu.com | info@...
> tel: +44 (0) 793 273 8782
>
> Mobile Design UK
> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mobiledesign-uk/
>
> Steph's Blog
> http://stephanierieger.com
> Keitai: mobility, culture and user experience
>
> http://linkedin.com/in/stephanierieger
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Stephanie Rieger
> Sent: 28 October 2008 11:59
> To: mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: RE: [mobiledesign-uk] The rise of the map empire
>
> Hi Mathias,
>
> I think what we are beginning to neglect in the rush for location based
> mapping systems is the more human aspect of mapping. Maps today focus an
> awful lot on getting from A to B—typically by car. Recently I've begun
> to notice Google maps offering directions on foot but the maps on our
> devices (or on the web) are still quite lacking in information compared
> to more traditional maps. Much of this information is historical,
> cultural and social. Everyone is running out to build geotagging
> applications to allow people to place notes on virtual locations and
> while user generated notes are bound to create an interesting landscape
> of thoughts, feelings and time-stamped ideas around locations, we are
> missing much of the historical knowledge of those locations which in
> principle, should be very easy to place on a map. Imagine being able to
> toggle a Google map to display the historical or cultural version as
> well as the more commercial version (nearest Starbucks, restaurant and
> hotel) we are finding today. In fact, some of the most interesting
> things might no longer be there (location of a famous battle, the church
> that burnt down in 1902) yet for local people, these locations may be so
> well known that they are real landmarks.
>
> See this recent discussion at the Royal Cartographic society about the
> loss of culture due to corporate-based mapping
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4629602.ece
> <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4629602.ece>
>
> Another aspect to mapping that is worth considering is whether the maps
> we are creating are equally legible and useful to everyone. I listened
> to an interview a few weeks back with a gentleman from Berkley
> University who has been piloting LBS services in emerging economies.
> http://www.podtech.net/home/4865/human-computer-interaction-in-emerging-
> economies-part-2
> <http://www.podtech.net/home/4865/human-computer-interaction-in-emerging
> -economies-part-2>
>
> He found that consumers with varying levels of literacy also have varied
> levels of map-reading skills which makes even simple mapping services
> tricky to use. Other factors came into play including our very western
> concept of a 'city block' which has little relevance in many non-western
> countries. By comparison, there are local and regional concepts related
> to mapping that are often left off our maps to notice this; everything
> from footpaths, pedestrian overpasses and the mapping of those very
> characteristic multi-storey buildings you find throughout Asia that
> resemble stacked/elevated marketplaces contain with hundreds of small
> businesses and corridors + floor numbering systems that almost qualify
> as city streets. This is already evident in the Google maps for Bangkok
> which are now all in Thai but are almost useless to actually navigate
> Bangkok.
>
> A nice example of totally need-based mapping is the wonderful little
> drawing you find behind many Japanese business cards or brochures
> showing the exact way to find the business or location. Japanese
> addresses are a bit of a nightmare and use several systems to plot
> locations all based on seemingly abstract stuff like how far you are
> from the local prefecture office
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_addressing_system
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_addressing_system> ) so simply
> handing people an address just doesn't work. Instead everyone uses
> small, often simplistic, hand-drawn looking maps which use easily
> recognizable landmarks ("take the path to the left of the 7-11 store
> then turn right at the lamppost") that can best be represented with
> pictures and diagrams. While this might seem counterproductive in our
> western cities there is something to be said for providing people with
> real, verifiable human directions ("if you see the fountain you've gone
> too far…".)
>
> Steph
>
> Yiibu: Mobile user experience and design
>
> http://yiibu.com <http://yiibu.com/> | info@...
>
> tel: +44 (0) 793 273 8782
>
> Steph's Blog
>
> http://stephanierieger.com <http://stephanierieger.com/>
> Keitai: mobility, culture and user experience
>
> http://linkedin.com/in/stephanierieger
> <http://linkedin.com/in/stephanierieger>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of mathias.dahlstrom
> Sent: 28 October 2008 10:16
> To: mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [mobiledesign-uk] The rise of the map empire
>
> Good Day Folks,
> a quick introduction of myself. Mathias, Swede, enjoys ice hockey,
> M.sc CS, Diploma from IDII in Ivrea. Worked on mobile devices
> somewhere between code and design for the last 3-4 years. Both in
> London and Berlin. Got an side interest in soldering silly circuits
> and installations in general.
>
> Now, to the topic of this email. Over the last year we have seen maps
> becoming a prominent part of mobile UIs. However they all seems
> strangely familiar, we have an established metaphor of a digital map.
> Most solutions I have seen uses a language similar to google maps (or
> is google maps). It seems there is quite a lot of space to explore
> when it comes to convey meaning and style in the visual language and
> representation of maps.
>
> So I guess the question is, have you seen any use of maps lately that
> has been off the beaten path and showed something new?
>
> kind regards, Mathias
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
> Version: 8.0.175 / Virus Database: 270.8.4/1751 - Release Date:
> 27/10/2008 22:44
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
> Version: 8.0.175 / Virus Database: 270.8.4/1751 - Release Date: 27/10/2008
> 22:44
>
>

On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 10:59 AM, Stephanie Rieger <steph@...> wrote:
> Ran into a fairly in-depth online Android demo if anyone is
> interested….there is quite a bit in there if you try all the menu options
> and demos.
>
> http://www.wdsglobal.com/android08/demos/G1/G1/main.html
>
>
>
> So far I'm impressed. The operating system is not as playful as the iPhone
> and exposes a bit more of the nuts and bolts of mobile (ie. mobile-related
> jargon lots of settings and options that 'normal' users may not understand)
> but does make a decent attempt to compensate with 'plain language'
> instructions.
>
>

I have had a chance to play with them. The UI is fairly rough and gets
stuck at times. My first impression is how air and easy the iphone ui
looked compared to the desktop metaphor. I mean nothing new here, but
the calmness and size of the grid makes it feels so easy to navigate.
The screen are pretty much the same dimensions from what i can tell,
but G1 seems so intensely packed.


>
> One feature I quite like is the screen in the Marketplace that warns you in
> very plain language what services will be used by the application you are
> about to install or what settings it will modify. While for some folks this
> may qualify as too much information (akin to some of the obscure Vista
> popups that notify you that some piece of software you're about to use will
> be sharing a .dll with some other piece of software); it's still however
> quite refreshing to see an attempt at keeping users in control of their
> experience by giving them real information.
>

Downloading from the store was pretty elegant, stress tested it as
well. At time we had 10 apps downloading at the same time. The taskbar
was greeting cramped and the battery almost died. But it held up.
Apparently if the browser is left open for many hours on a js intense
page it can crash.

>
>
> Steph
>
>
>
> Yiibu: Mobile user experience and design
>
> http://yiibu.com | info@...
>
> tel: +44 (0) 793 273 8782
>
>
>
> Mobile Design UK
>
> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mobiledesign-uk/
>
>
>
> Steph's Blog
>
> http://stephanierieger.com
> Keitai: mobility, culture and user experience
>
>
>
> http://linkedin.com/in/stephanierieger
>
>
>
>

Hello,

Just wondering if anybody has any suggestions for re-sizing images
from 'big web' CMSs in order to ensure they are appropriate (file
size, legibility, etc) for smaller screens?

Simply scaling a 600px wide image down to roughly a device appropriate
screen size (between 128px and 480px+) seems fraught with usability
issues as fine features, details, type, etc are likely to be rendered
completely illegible when scaled down.

I've seen people automatically crop images to the required size
instead, but this doesn't feel like a good solution to me as it's
quite likely that important aspects of the image will in fact be
completely cropped out of the image - even when scaled down slightly.

That sort of leaves creating specific images for all of the various
device groups (small, med, large, etc) and having to introduce some
sort of logic within the CMS (and likely content) to swap out the
images. This sounds a tad too complex for  users who are now largely
used to simply editing content within a CMS wysiwyg editor.

A while back I worked on a project using graphics created in SVG where
logic was created on the server to intelligently scale the images down
to the required screen size - this ensured all of the important
details were still legible and that the image served to the device was
appropriate (in both format and size). While this worked quite well it
required a lot of development effort and users had to export and
upload SVG-T files adhering to a specific group/name structure from
Adobe Illustrator - not a solution that's easy to make work in other
general contexts.

Any brilliant insights or wild ideas welcome.

Bryan

Hi,
excellent news. Just after momo seems like a good time. Before we get
sucked into christmas spirit to much. I can always bring some Glögg :)
Personally, I feel like a good design critic would be excellent.
Basically haven't attended one in a long time. Maybe its a sequence of
reviews/gatherings, thinking about the touch uis. Android, hopefully
2.2 of iphone, 5800 on the stores.

Mathias

On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 1:02 PM, Bryan Rieger <bryan@...> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> In order to move forward with the idea of holding a face-to-face event
> before the end of the year I thought it might be a good idea to put a
> few thoughts forward to gauge what people are looking for exactly.
>
> I'd also like to take some time during the first meeting to discuss
> the creation of a 'board of directors' that would work together to
> guide Mobile Design UK going forward - I don't want this to be my sole
> gig/show/responsibility, that's not the idea behind it. Ideally, I'd
> like to work towards something similar to the Mobile Monday model
> where there is shared input.
>
> Location
> --
> Priya from Flirtomatic has mentioned that we could use their offices
> for the first event. I believe it can hold about 20 or so people
> (Priya correct me if I'm wrong - I've only been there once).
> Flirtomatic's office is located about 5 minutes walk from Oxford
> Circus - so it's very convenient to get to, with lots of pubs nearby
> to grab a drink afterward. That said, if we have more interest we may
> have to make other arrangements or limit the number of participants.
>
> Date
> --
> We don't want to conflict with any other mobile or design related
> events if possible.
> From November 10th the following events are taking place:
>
> Mobile Monday - Nov 10th
> Chinwag: MoSo Rising - Nov 11th
> Mobile Technology in Travel - Nov 11th
> Mobile Content London - Nov 12th
> Future of Mobile - Nov 17th
> Mobile Monday - Dec 1st
>
> Given that, we're thinking of scheduling the first Mobile Design UK
> meeting the week of December 1st - but AFTER Mobile Monday, more
> likely the Wednesday (3rd) or Thursday (4th). Much later than that and
> most people will have commitments to Christmas parties, shopping, etc.
>
> Format
> --
> I've heard some great comments on the 'This Happened' format.
> http://www.thishappened.org/guidelines
>
> I'm also open to other formats such as:
>
> Critique Sessions - constructive critique of an existing product or
> service
> http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/23-how-to-run-a-design-critique/
>
> Pecha Kucha - quick, focused presentations about varied topics
> http://www.pecha-kucha.org/
>
> Workshops/Studios - collaborative exercise working through a design
> problem(s)
>
> ...or any other ideas you might have.
>
> Topics
> --
> The following are a few ideas off the top of my head - please chime in
> with interest for any, or feel free to suggest others.
>
> - Mobile Typography
> - Touch Interfaces
> - Near Field Communication
> - Designing for screen size and pixel density variance
> - Mobile Web
> - Critique of the iPhone (or any other device)
> - Glanceable UIs
> - Fashion vs Features
> - Design Research Techniques
> - Beyond the Device: Looking at the entire mobile user experience
> - Designing Location-Based Services
> - Mobile sketching ad prototyping techniques
> - The State of Mobile Advertising
> - Mobile in Developing Nations
> - Designing mobile devices for the elderly and people with disabilities
> - More than just phones (PSP, Nintendo DS, eBook readers, GPS units,
> etc)
> - ...
>
> And of course, to we're looking for people to present and/or lead
> sessions. If you're interested please do get in touch.
>
> Website
> --
> Currently the website is just a simple WordPress blog set-up to get
> the ball rolling. I've been chatting with Brian Fling of
> http://mobiledesign.org
> about working with him to bring the two together in some way.
> Regardless, if you're interested in contributing (design,
> announcements, recording meetings, etc) drop me a line, or better yet
> come to the first meeting.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bryan Rieger
>
>

Hi all,

I'm US-based, but come to London occasionally. If anybody is
interested in meeting, I'll be chairing Mobile Device & Usability on
Tuesday 11 November. I'll try to make MoMo the night before if I can
shake off the jet lag, and will be there all week.


We started a mobile design conference in North America (no fair you
having all the fun), so I'm interested in whatever ongoing topics you
folks find important. And visiting when I'm there.

In the meantime, we've also established a handful of mobile design
resources & community. [1] is our conference. [2] is our growing
resource of all things mobile design, including style guides & design
patterns. We're thinking of rebranding it and moving it to #1. It is a
wiki. [3] is where I keep all the best mobile design resources I know
of, so I'll add this group there. Of course, this link is already on
your home page.


[1] http://design4mobile.mobi/
[2] http://patterns.littlespringsdesign.com
[3] http://squidoo.com/mobiledesign


Barbara Ballard
barbara@...
www.littlespringsdesign.com

Speaking of maps...just ran into this example of a Google Android
application (!!) with an interesting take on mobile mapping...allowing for
annotations and photos to provide visual and contextual cues for
navigation...

http://www.springwise.com/telecom_mobile/using_pictures_to_give_directi/

Steph

Yiibu: Mobile user experience and design
http://yiibu.com | info@...
tel: +44 (0) 793 273 8782

Mobile Design UK
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mobiledesign-uk/
 
Steph's Blog
http://stephanierieger.com
Keitai: mobility, culture and user experience

http://linkedin.com/in/stephanierieger

-----Original Message-----
From: mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Stephanie Rieger
Sent: 28 October 2008 11:59
To: mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [mobiledesign-uk] The rise of the map empire

Hi Mathias,

I think what we are beginning to neglect in the rush for location based
mapping systems is the more human aspect of mapping. Maps today focus an
awful lot on getting from A to B—typically by car. Recently I’ve begun
to notice Google maps offering directions on foot but the maps on our
devices (or on the web) are still quite lacking in information compared
to more traditional maps. Much of this information is historical,
cultural and social. Everyone is running out to build geotagging
applications to allow people to place notes on virtual locations and
while user generated notes are bound to create an interesting landscape
of thoughts, feelings and time-stamped ideas around locations, we are
missing much of the historical knowledge of those locations which in
principle, should be very easy to place on a map. Imagine being able to
toggle a Google map to display the historical or cultural version as
well as the more commercial version (nearest Starbucks, restaurant and
hotel) we are finding today. In fact, some of the most interesting
things might no longer be there (location of a famous battle, the church
that burnt down in 1902) yet for local people, these locations may be so
well known that they are real landmarks.



See this recent discussion at the Royal Cartographic society about the
loss of culture due to corporate-based mapping
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4629602.ece
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4629602.ece>



Another aspect to mapping that is worth considering is whether the maps
we are creating are equally legible and useful to everyone. I listened
to an interview a few weeks back with a gentleman from Berkley
University who has been piloting LBS services in emerging economies.
http://www.podtech.net/home/4865/human-computer-interaction-in-emerging-
economies-part-2
<http://www.podtech.net/home/4865/human-computer-interaction-in-emerging
-economies-part-2>

He found that consumers with varying levels of literacy also have varied
levels of map-reading skills which makes even simple mapping services
tricky to use. Other factors came into play including our very western
concept of a ‘city block’ which has little relevance in many non-western
countries. By comparison, there are local and regional concepts related
to mapping that are often left off our maps to notice this; everything
from footpaths, pedestrian overpasses and the mapping of those very
characteristic multi-storey buildings you find throughout Asia that
resemble stacked/elevated marketplaces contain with hundreds of small
businesses and corridors + floor numbering systems that almost qualify
as city streets. This is already evident in the Google maps for Bangkok
which are now all in Thai but are almost useless to actually navigate
Bangkok.



A nice example of totally need-based mapping is the wonderful little
drawing you find behind many Japanese business cards or brochures
showing the exact way to find the business or location. Japanese
addresses are a bit of a nightmare and use several systems to plot
locations all based on seemingly abstract stuff like how far you are
from the local prefecture office
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_addressing_system
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_addressing_system> ) so simply
handing people an address just doesn’t work. Instead everyone uses
small, often simplistic, hand-drawn looking maps which use easily
recognizable landmarks (“take the path to the left of the 7-11 store
then turn right at the lamppost”) that can best be represented with
pictures and diagrams. While this might seem counterproductive in our
western cities there is something to be said for providing people with
real, verifiable human directions (“if you see the fountain you’ve gone
too far…”.)



Steph



Yiibu: Mobile user experience and design

http://yiibu.com <http://yiibu.com/>  | info@...

tel: +44 (0) 793 273 8782



Steph's Blog

http://stephanierieger.com <http://stephanierieger.com/>
Keitai: mobility, culture and user experience



http://linkedin.com/in/stephanierieger
<http://linkedin.com/in/stephanierieger>



________________________________

From: mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of mathias.dahlstrom
Sent: 28 October 2008 10:16
To: mobiledesign-uk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [mobiledesign-uk] The rise of the map empire



Good Day Folks,
a quick introduction of myself. Mathias, Swede, enjoys ice hockey,
M.sc CS, Diploma from IDII in Ivrea. Worked on mobile devices
somewhere between code and design for the last 3-4 years. Both in
London and Berlin. Got an side interest in soldering silly circuits
and installations in general.

Now, to the topic of this email. Over the last year we have seen maps
becoming a prominent part of mobile UIs. However they all seems
strangely familiar, we have an established metaphor of a digital map.
Most solutions I have seen uses a language similar to google maps (or
is google maps). It seems there is quite a lot of space to explore
when it comes to convey meaning and style in the visual language and
representation of maps.

So I guess the question is, have you seen any use of maps lately that
has been off the beaten path and showed something new?

kind regards, Mathias

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.175 / Virus Database: 270.8.4/1751 - Release Date:
27/10/2008 22:44




No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.175 / Virus Database: 270.8.4/1751 - Release Date: 27/10/2008
22:44

Hello,

In order to move forward with the idea of holding a face-to-face event
before the end of the year I thought it might be a good idea to put a
few thoughts forward to gauge what people are looking for exactly.

I'd also like to take some time during the first meeting to discuss
the creation of a 'board of directors' that would work together to
guide Mobile Design UK going forward - I don't want this to be my sole
gig/show/responsibility, that's not the idea behind it. Ideally, I'd
like to work towards something similar to the Mobile Monday model
where there is shared input.


Location
--
Priya from Flirtomatic has mentioned that we could use their offices
for the first event. I believe it can hold about 20 or so people
(Priya correct me if I'm wrong - I've only been there once).
Flirtomatic's office is located about 5 minutes walk from Oxford
Circus - so it's very convenient to get to, with lots of pubs nearby
to grab a drink afterward. That said, if we have more interest we may
have to make other arrangements or limit the number of participants.


Date
--
We don't want to conflict with any other mobile or design related
events if possible.
  From November 10th the following events are taking place:

Mobile Monday - Nov 10th
Chinwag: MoSo Rising - Nov 11th
Mobile Technology in Travel - Nov 11th
Mobile Content London - Nov 12th
Future of Mobile - Nov 17th
Mobile Monday - Dec 1st

Given that, we're thinking of scheduling the first Mobile Design UK
meeting the week of December 1st - but AFTER Mobile Monday, more
likely the Wednesday (3rd) or Thursday (4th). Much later than that and
most people will have commitments to Christmas parties, shopping, etc.


Format
--
I've heard some great comments on the 'This Happened' format.
http://www.thishappened.org/guidelines

I'm also open to other formats such as:

Critique Sessions - constructive critique of an existing product or
service
http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/23-how-to-run-a-design-critique/

Pecha Kucha - quick, focused presentations about varied topics
http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

Workshops/Studios - collaborative exercise working through a design
problem(s)

...or any other ideas you might have.


Topics
--
The following are a few ideas off the top of my head - please chime in
with interest for any, or feel free to suggest others.

- Mobile Typography
- Touch Interfaces
- Near Field Communication
- Designing for screen size and pixel density variance
- Mobile Web
- Critique of the iPhone (or any other device)
- Glanceable UIs
- Fashion vs Features
- Design Research Techniques
- Beyond the Device: Looking at the entire mobile user experience
- Designing Location-Based Services
- Mobile sketching ad prototyping techniques
- The State of Mobile Advertising
- Mobile in Developing Nations
- Designing mobile devices for the elderly and people with disabilities
- More than just phones (PSP, Nintendo DS, eBook readers, GPS units,
etc)
- ...

And of course, to we're looking for people to present and/or lead
sessions. If you're interested please do get in touch.

Website
--
Currently the website is just a simple WordPress blog set-up to get
the ball rolling. I've been chatting with Brian Fling of http://mobiledesign.org
   about working with him to bring the two together in some way.
Regardless, if you're interested in contributing (design,
announcements, recording meetings, etc) drop me a line, or better yet
come to the first meeting.

Thoughts?

Cheers,

Bryan Rieger

Good Day Folks,
a quick introduction of myself. Mathias, Swede, enjoys ice hockey,
M.sc CS, Diploma from IDII in Ivrea. Worked on mobile devices
somewhere between code and design for the last 3-4 years. Both in
London and Berlin. Got an side interest in soldering silly circuits
and installations in general.

Now, to the topic of this email. Over the last year we have seen maps
becoming a prominent part of mobile UIs. However they all seems
strangely familiar, we have an established metaphor of a digital map.
Most solutions I have seen uses a language similar to google maps (or
is google maps). It seems there is quite a lot of space to explore
when it comes to convey meaning and style in the visual language and
representation of maps.

So I guess the question is, have you seen any use of maps lately that
has been off the beaten path and showed something new?

kind regards, Mathias