Wireless Wonders

No news, just comment about mobile phones and services, from a veteran practitioner...3G, GPRS, WAP, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc...

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Death by email...wirelessly ("obvious" idea #74)

My latest mobile device connects to Exchange using activesync over the air. I could describe in boring detail how tedious the whole affair is, how slow, how apparently inefficient. I could mention the strange default behaviour, such as syncing the sent-items folder, which is probably the last thing needed when on the move. I could also mention that it has failed to sync on several occasions without any meaningful error message whatsoever (why is that not a surprise?).

However, following on from my previous posting about "user instructions", it is not obvious how to change settings - such as turning sent-items syncing off. Is that possible? Perhaps it is, but where are the instructions? I self-provisioned the service and thank God it was self-provisioned, although it asked for the SMTP address of my mobile device, which is not obvious, especially if, as was my case, you don't have one. (NOTE: as a technical person, I happen to know what an SMTP address is, but what about the average self-provisioning Exchange user?)

Having self-provisioned, perhaps the service could have sent me a welcome email with some instructions, or where to find them online. In fact, in case I misplace such a message, were it to exist, there should be a perpetual button on the user interface - "send me instructions". If the service gets updated, it could have a little "New" icon beside it, so I can download any new instructions that might be useful.

These are matters of design - "user experience" design, not "user interface" design. Unfortunately, "user experience" has become a buzz word used by marketers like it's a shopping item. "Sure, we have a user experience - you can put a tick in that box."

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Waste...how not to ("obvious" idea #73)

Yet again, having opened a new product - in this case a mobile phone with an accompanying operator "welcome" pack - I am faced with the sadness of having to throw lots of paper and booklets into the bin, never mind the actual packaging with all its bits of polythene, ties and plastic bits. Why is this still necessary?

Take the O2 booklet "Do More". It is only 12 pages long yet still wastes one page with "Contents", as if we need to save time jumping to a page in a booklet that can be skim-read or flicked through in a few seconds. The next page is a gratuitous photo of a man carrying golf clubs - this is opposite the page "Voicemail 901 - always in touch". Its contents are how to activate voicemail and check for messages. The other pages are similarly pithy introductions to operator services. Bin fodder! An environmental waste. But why?

A mobile phone should be a one-button experience. Turn it on and it's ready to go. There should be a button called services for self-provisioning of any new services. I still don't understand why many mobiles don't come preset with the operator number, directory services and other useful services, including help! After all, the best interface on a mobile is still audio, so why not use it to listen to instructions and, if required, activate new services?

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