Both the iPhone and the Windows 7 phone offer users a variety of apps to choose from. Both have a consolidated place for users to find apps: the iPhone “App Store” and the Windows 7 “Marketplace”.  Users are able to purchase apps from these stores, both through their smartphone or computer.  So what is the main difference between the two?  The number of apps available and the user interface display.  Apple offers users a much more vast selection of apps in their store.  Additionally, the iPhone offers user the ability to use and manage their apps from both their phone and their computer—currently, Windows 7 apps are only available to users through the phone’s user interface.  Thus, the iPhone is better organized and more diverse.  However, this does not mean that the Windows 7 phone will not one day reach or surpass the iPhone in terms of app numbers and interfacing options.  The Windows 7 phone is much newer than the iPhone and this leaves it more room to grow and evolve.  So choosing between the two requires you to put your faith in the Windows 7 phone’s evolution or putting stock in the iPhone’s proven reputation. Or you can simply succumb to the epic Apple-Microsoft battle and pick a side.

•    iPod Nano: Smaller size, added touch screen capability, lost camera.

•    iPod Shuffle: VoiceOver capacity in 25 different languages in addition to a larger size and smaller price; at $49 it is the cheapest iPod to date.

•   iPod Touch: Improved screen and battery life and a front-facing camera that allows users to make calls via Skype to iPhone 4 and other iPod Touch users.

The Netflix app user interface will allow members to organize their materials by personal preferences, genres, new arrivals and individual instant queues.  Members will also be able to access their Netflix content from both 3G and Wi-Fi networks, though Wi-Fi will provide faster and more reliable streaming and downloads. So after you have finished downloading music, checking email, and Facebook stalking, you can always watch a movie on your iPhone—if you even have the time left.

Thinking with wireframes: they are more than just an inert tool

First and foremost Evans claims that wireframes are thinking devices because they are the setting “for the exploration of a given problem space” (UX Magazine). Evans asserts that UX designers often view the development process as purely problem solving rather than an explorative process that both poses and solves problems based on user contexts and needs.  “I use my sketches and wireframes as means to make explorative moves and assess the consequences of those moves” says Evans.  Thus, the wireframe is not just an artifact but really a framework that provides designers the space to think through and iterate their UI designs, simultaneously facilitating their problem solving and creative capacities.   By viewing the wireframe as a partner in a dynamic process instead of a static, inanimate tool, designers “will find they have the opportunity to more successfully create great user experiences.”

This take on wireframes being a kind collaborative partner in the user interface design and development process is compelling and brings a fresh outlook to the wireframing method as a whole.  If designers can learn to see wireframes in this new way then perhaps they will also feel more inspired in their work. After all new perspectives often engender reinvigorated creative flows and ideas and that is what a living thought process is all about.

Aside from contradicting interface design convention and to its credit, the new vertical orientation does have some merit from a usability perspective. The close/minimize/zoom buttons are now more isolated from the media control buttons thus reducing the chance of clicking the wrong one. However for this orientation to really catch on other programs will have to adopt it as a convention.
“If it ain’t broken. Don’t try and fix it.”

Here, Apple run the risk of alienating users but considering their penchant for innovation on their own terms (and smiling all the way to the bank while at it) it is a risk that could pay dividends. Microsoft Office 2007 is a great example of how radical changes to a tried, tested and beloved interface design can pay-off despite the risk. Vista on the other hand… well we all know it wasn’t quite the home run Redmond hoped it would be. Apple’s image is no longer that of the little engine that could. It is arguably the 21st century’s Microsoft and as such has to guard itself against becoming seen as a bumbling giant. Other positive interface design changes worth noting are that the volume slider bar and the album cover artwork frame are bigger now. As a result the volume is now easier to manipulate, possibly catering to an aging audience. Double-clicking the artwork opens a pop-up with an even bigger picture complete with media, volume and resizing controls that appear when you hover the mic over it. Please che
ck back on this blog for a look at the new Ping music social network.

1.    Stage 1  – General Knowledge: This stage of UX knowledge indicates that the designer or organization has little understanding of their users beyond general assumptions about what the users want, think, and need.  Thus, this level of understanding of the user is very broad and does not lend itself well to interface design evolution based on what users want and need. Instead, it is a simple way of brainstorming and predicting what users might want and what they trend towards.

2.    Stage 2 – Understand User Behavior: This second level of UX understanding means that you or your company are now employing testing methods, such as usability tests, to ascertain UX information from clients and/or users in order to design interfaces accordingly or make the necessary changes to your existing interface design.  This is a level that all organizations should try to achieve if they are serious about usability and UX success.

3.    Stage 3 – Influence Your Users: This is the stage in which you not only determine what users want to make a system functional, but also what they want to make a particular interface design interesting or unique.  In this stage, you have developed a process of measuring UX feedback to the point where you know how to craft systems that are unique and will entice users; you are influencing them to use your site for more than just functional purposes.

The UX hierarchy that Calabro introduces shows that if you are serious about interface design, then you definitely want to make it your or your organization’s goal to reach the third level.  You want to generally understand your users, specifically understand your users, and ultimately influence your users relative to your interface design.

According to Joseph C Lawrence’s article “Five reasons why user experience thinking is essential” there are five important “UX mantras” that every designer should keep in mind when designing a user interface (as paraphrased below):

1.    UX design is about the users: Keeping the users at the center of your interface design will allow you to create websites and applications that aren’t just characterized by functionality, but also by individuality based on what users want and need beyond the structure of a site—sometimes a basic, functional structure is too boring.
2.    UX design requires testing: UX testing will help you learn not only how users interact with your site, but also how they want to interact with your site.  Thus, you will be able to analyze the feedback and make the changes necessary to infuse your interface design with individuality.
3.    UX design is psychological in nature: Websites are dynamic and intertwined with almost every interaction in our daily lives whether it is socializing, traveling, or shopping etc. Since the web is now such an integral part of the way people live personally and professionally, interface designs must now be more than a collection of pages and data—they must be designed understanding the psychology of what motivates people to perform the interactions facilitated by websites and applications.  UX design allows designers to gather this vital information.
4.    UX design is a harmonizing force: UX design can tie together all of the diverging goals of web users and designers in order to create a unique and usable interface design.  Understanding how users use an application and what users want gives designers and other stakeholders the information required so they can tailor their business goals and methods to the needs of the user without jeopardizing their own enterprise.
5.    UX design is an interdisciplinary method: The dynamic and integrated nature of today’s websites and apps requires web developers to understand not only computer software and programming but also an assortment of other fields: psychology, business, and marketing to name a few.  UX design transcends into all of these fields because users are human and humans are by nature interdisciplinary.

Using Lawrence’s “UX mantras” can help you keep your focus on the users which will ultimately distinguish your site from others that are similar, increasing your interface design’s popularity and success.  The better you understand your users and their needs, the more seamless the process of using your website or application becomes for them. This makes users happy and they will want to use your site above others because it is designed to understand what they want and respond to their needs.

The toolbar, with big clearly marked buttons, itself is found at the top of the interface design below the Address Field but above the Tab bars. It is itself distinct in the same red and white colors of the Austrian flag. The colors also add to the legibility of the text. The toolbar has its own search bar on the left of the interface design unlike the top right customary search bar of the browser itself. This, I think, is a good touch because it serves to further distinguish it as not being the same as full internet search but rather specific. Clicking on a service in the toolbar automatically launches it in a new tab leaving your hitherto browsing unaffected. The challenge now for the Austrian government is to work on incorporating their services into the interface designs of other browsers that work with different operating systems. Hopefully other governments will be close by behind them.