MobileUX

Wanted to toss these out since they are upcoming, interesting, and may touch on mobile (who knows – mobile and social are good friends.)

• Ignite Seattle on December 1st
• Social Media Club on Tuesday, December 8th

Both are worth checking out  and subscribing to their lists for future events.

Some of us at work were talking the other day about Android as an open platform and how it will continue to spread and if/how the user experience will fragment. Android is following the model of creating the OS that can be used by
whatever hardware company wants to use it.  I think openness in
general is good, but I wonder if mobile, because of its specific
constraints on screen size, form factor, usage patterns (e.g. on-the-
go, standing on bus, etc.) make usability THE most critical factor for
widespread adoption.  And if so, I wonder if the the Apple’s and RIM’s of the
world that tightly control the hardware and the OS will continue to
remain at the forefront and provide the best experience in the eyes
of consumers. This is not a plug for Apple, Blackberry, or any other vendor – rather it is a question about single companies controlling the user experience from end to end.

The other day I overheard  two people talking about a new Droid phone that one of them got. His main selling point when describing it was “…the iPhone has the
polish, but [the Droid] is a phone a techie will love.”  Makes me
think about how Android is already playing out to be a
different experience on the different Android devices like the
Motorola Droid, the Motorola CLIQ, the HTC Hero – something that is
easy for someone more technical to get their head around but not
necessarily something your average user will appreciate.

My colleague Ryan Turner pointed me to this Wired article that underscores the discussion.  I’m loving how the mobile market is growing. Yes, there are a ton of players now (even Samsung is in the smartphone OS mix with Bada), but it makes things exciting!