As the year comes to a close I set my eyes out for the New Year in User Experience Design. This year we’ve seen more and more convergence of print design in the Web. The use of grid frameworks like 960.gs and “open” typography utilities like Typekit indicate a maturation in design as a whole. The delineation between template-based, low-cost web sites and custom built web sites is more evident. But what does 2010 have in store?

Location & Context

As Visual Designers settle into their groove set this year, User Experience Designers and Information Architects will be focusing on the ever apparent need for relevant data IN CONTEXT to LOCATION. Location-aware applications like Foursquare, Latitude, and GoWalla are leading the pack in the quest for information and connections. It’s no longer an add-on to consider the users’ need for information based upon where they are located- it’s a requirement.

Where is all of this coming from? I can point the finger at two major companies that are supporting this movement- Apple and Google. The iPhone is synonymous with both location and context as this mobile computing platform illustrates with its top selling applications that either integrate where the user is and letting others know where they are (AKA “checking-in”) or augmenting their existing reality by placing useful information over a view of their location. Google’s take on location is visual search with Google Goggle. Is your mind spinning yet?

The key to this push is the use of mobile devices that converge GPS, wi-fi, 3G, search, social networking, and imagery to create a perfect storm of context.

Mobile Browsers

By now most people have a mobile phone. The growing trend is that most people have mobile devices and no landline. For others their mobile device is also their link to the Web and entertainment. The iPhone has been dubbed an entertainment platform. Blackberry devices are still focused on mobile business communications and the newly released Google Android OS based phones are popping up everywhere. Remember the Motorola flip phone? Yea, that used to be cool!

Yesterday, images of Google-branded devices began popping up over the Web. Called the “Nexus One” it will go head-to-head with the Apple iPhone because of it’s focus on user-friendly interface and product design. Now all of these devices (except for the Blackberry Curve for instance) have Web browsers that are pretty much full-featured. They are able to render most sites as you see them on your desktop just in a smaller, scaled down viewport. So that means, you have to start taking into consideration that a noticeable portion of your users will be using their mobile devices to view your site. This can be good and it can be bad.

Accommodating Mobile in 2010

Owners of web sites, designers, and UX professionals will have to realize that their sites will be viewed on a small screen. Users will provide some accommodation as they understand that they may not be able to do everything as they would if they were in front of their computer but don’t take that for granted. Heavy Flash or Flash-based web sites are typically not usable on these platforms because Flash is not supported or they don’t have enough bandwidth to push the heavy animation. Also, call to action text and buttons should be used liberally. This will allow mobile users to easily spot the tasks they need to accomplish.

Check your web site analytics applications to see how many mobile users are accessing your site. You may be faced with the need to update or refresh your site sooner than you think. And, don’t forget that creating an iPhone or Android application to provide deeper functionality or a richer experience on a mobile device may be in order this year also.

The “User” part of User Experience Design continues to help us focus our goals for design in 2010. Are you ready?

POST A NEW COMMENT

Your Message

Name

Email

Website (optional)

Subscribe to replies