From the article: "Mobiles have become fashion accessories as much as they are utility items and I'm not sure if Nokia is keeping up with this trend."

I completely disagree with the "as much" part of the sentence above. In other words, I do not think that the technology aspects of mobiles (i.e., cell phone, camera, radio, MP3 player, etc.) are equally important as their fashion aspects (i.e., color, status symbol, etc.). Technology is definitely still king! A mobile, or even simply a cell phone, is valued by most users because it helps people interact and communicate. The fashion aspects are side benefits only, in my opinion.

From the article: "But seriously, it seems to me much of Nokia's new designs have been simply a combination of wacky keypad layouts and ever-so-slightly differently shaped bodies."

I agree with this observation. However, there are limitations that won't go away, such as form factor. Until mobiles become jewelry or something else we're stuck with the same basic size and shape, although weight and interfaces might change. (But, as I like to say, eggs only come in one basic shape!)

From the article: "However, when *all* your phones have the same exact UI, and you design your phones around it and its static screen size, and that UI stopped innovating over a year or so ago, eventually the design of the phones themselves are going to eventually become stale."

If fashion really is your thing, then your technology might become stale. However, the benefits of standardization and similarity are extremely high. How hard are the buttons and icons to use in Excel once you know Word? Not very. Humans like familiar things. We're wired that way. (Why do you think we form stereotypes? We are inference machines!)

From the article: "So from a business perspective, its obvious Nokia knows what they're doing. They've got over $8 billion in the bank and their market share keeps growing while competitors like SonyEricsson battle for 4-5% of the market and struggle to gain financial viability. From a technical perspective, they've got the amazing S60 platform and functional home-grown CDMA2000 chipsets. But from a *design* perspective, it really looks like Nokia has stalled and I have to wonder how long it will be before that comes to start affecting their bottom line as well."

Um, from what I can tell, Nokia have done things right. They've focused on the right things, and they've focused on people. The author makes it clear that they've taken care of people and technology, and that is what has driven profits. Design? Well, what is design exactly? Tell me that and I'll tell you what usability is. I think rather than designs, Nokia needs to keep an eye on things like standards, new technologies, new infrastrucutres, and so forth. Despite what the author implies, mobile technology is still in its infancy and if you focus on design too much, you'll miss trends at the edges. Those edges can quickly become disruptive.

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on September 17, 2003 09:55 PM

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Of course the assumption is that to design is to monkey around with superficial details. Design can be disruptive. The better designs are disruptive.

Posted by: on September 18, 2003 12:27 PM

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http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/70/smartcompany.html

Posted by: Daniel Szuc on September 19, 2003 12:29 AM

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I switched from a Nokia to a Sony/Erriscon (T68i).

I regret the switch. I had thought that other companies would have caught up with the Nokia interface, I was wrong :(

[Mostly task-flow details, like not being able to go from received phone calls to the person's details. It also crashes!]

I will be switching back asap.

-Alastair

Posted by: alastc on September 19, 2003 08:40 AM

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I was amazed to read that Sony dont even account for the user as part of their Product Development lifecycle as their products are developed under complete secrecy. So I am not surprised when I hear people complain about poor usability with Sony products.

Posted by: Daniel Szuc on September 19, 2003 10:59 AM

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Talking on Nokia, have you seen this article about "Usability and Games: Nokia's Guidelines for Greater Fun".

The set of guidelines can be found here.

Posted by: Mac on September 19, 2003 06:32 PM

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