by Joey deVilla on November 2, 2009
The New Yorker’s Hallowe’en Cover
I make sure to keep an eye on how technology pops up in mainstream non-geek culture because it’s a good way to gauge the techno-cultural zeitgeist and see how technologies are being received by the public at large. As techies, we’re all too happy to be early adopters and are willing to put up with usability problems, annoyances and extra work just to have the latest and greatest gear for its own sake. We have a tendency to forget that many non-techies don’t adopt technologies while they’re still new and need a techie mindset to use; they’ wait until technologies evolve to the point where the benefits outweigh the annoyances.
The current issue of The New Yorker has a Hallowe’en-themed cover that hints at how much smartphones have worked their way into everyday people’s lives:
Here’s a closeup:
(I’ll bet that at least one of you went out Saturday night trick-or-treating and checked your smartphone.)
The practical upshot of all this: the mobile platform is in your future. It’s the one that people take everywhere and it’s growing in power in leaps and bounds the way desktop (and later, laptop) computers did in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
WinMoDevCamp
Speaking of mobile platforms, we’re holding a full-day workshop on Windows Phone development called WinMoDevCamp Toronto next Wednesday, November 11th from noon to 9 p.m. at the Microsoft Mississauga offices (1950 Meadowvale Boulevard). It’s free of charge and your chance to learn how to develop applications for Windows Phone.
This article also appears in Canadian Developer Connection.
Tagged as:
mobile,
Pop Culture,
Windows Mobile
by Joey deVilla on October 30, 2009
Yes, you probably went here as soon as you saw the phrase “One-Handed Computing”:
But in this case, I’m talking about what Jason Kottke is talking about — those times when you use mobile technology while your other hand isn’t free because you’re:
- Eating
- Drinking
- Carrying or feeding a baby
- Walking the dog
- Carrying groceries
- “Straphanging” on a train or bus
- Getting by with a broken arm
In the cases above – and I’m sure you can think of many more – you’re accessing computing resources in a very undesktop-like way: with only one hand, and even then, a limited portion of that hand since most of your fingers are busy holding that phone. You’re likely using only your thumb, as shown below:
There are lots of times when users are stuck in “one-thumb mode”. If you’re building mobile applications, you should keep that in mind and make sure you design your user interfaces accordingly. You might need to consider things like:
- The size of touchscreen controls: make them too small and they’re not thumb-friendly.
- The number of controls on the screen; the maximum number is dictated by their size.
- Navigation in your app. Hierarchical arrangements make sense to developers, but lots of user experience people will tell you that ordinary people don’t get hierarchies.
- Which functions will your users use most often? You should make those very easily accessible. Which functions will your users use less often? You might be able to put them on a secondary or tertiary screen.
- Can you get information without making the user enter it? For example, can you infer information based on the user’s location, which you can grab from GPS instead of asking for him/her to enter it? Can your application remember your user’s most often-used data?
- Can you get other kinds of one-handed input, such as from the camera, accelerometer, magnetometer or other sensors?
That’s a fair bit to think about, and I might have to present some ideas at the upcoming Toronto WinMoDevCamp (and yes, I’ll also blog them).
This article also appears in Canadian Developer Connection.
Tagged as:
mobile,
one hand,
user interface
by Joey deVilla on October 20, 2009
by Joey deVilla on October 19, 2009
On Wednesday, November 11th, we’ll be hosting the Toronto-area WinMoDevCamp at Microsoft Canada’s headquarters! It’ll be the fifth in a series of worldwide “Camp” style workshops focusing on developing applications for Windows Mobile (including the upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5).
WinMoDevCamp – short for Windows Mobile Developer Camp – was inspired by events like BarCamp, SuperHappyDevHouse and the original iPhoneDevCamp. It’s a free-of-charge get-together where mobile developers, web developers, .NET developers, UI designers, testers, device manufacturers and Canadian mobile carriers gather, team up and work in ad-hoc mobile development projects for the day.
You’ll get to:
- Create new applications for the Windows Mobile Platform
- Meet and work side-by-side with people from the Microsoft Mobile Developer Experience team
- Migrate existing mobile apps from the iPhone, BlackBerry and Palm Pre to the Windows Mobile platform
- Create applications to support Windows Enterprise Applications
- Meet with representatives from Canadian mobile phone companies, including Bell, Rogers, Telus and WIND
- Test and optimize applications for Windows Mobile 6.5
The event is free-as-in-beer (in other words, it costs nothing to attend), and you’ll be able to sign up to attend soon – watch this space!
This article also appears in Canadian Developer Connection.
Tagged as:
Camps,
free as in beer,
mobile,
Windows Mobile,
WinMoDevCamp,
workshops
by Joey deVilla on October 8, 2009
Here are some photos I took at Monday’s Windows 7 media event showing off the latest Windows 7-compatible computers from six vendors:
The participating vendors were:
- Dell
- Hewlett-Packard
- Lenovo
- LG
- Sony
- Toshiba
The whole day was a non-stop demo from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with journalists both mainstream and tech, associated with an organization or independent, print and television, streaming in constantly to get a look at Windows 7 in action on all sorts of hardware. I was there as the "Microsoft Guy" to answer questions about Windows 7 in general; the vendors each sent a rep to talk up their specific hardware.
I did some demos that will find their way to television soon: one demo for CTV News which should air next week. I also did a demo for the Space channel’s always-entertaining Ajay Fry which will be appearing on Space’s show InnerSPACE (formerly known as The Circuit) tonight at 11 p.m. (Eastern); it’ll repeat tomorrow at noon (Eastern). Alas, there is no accordion playing, but I think I did a pretty good demo of some of the cool multi-touch possibilities with Windows 7. I don’t know if you’ll be watching it, but I certainly will!
My thanks to our friends at High Road Communications and the vendors for making the event both a success and very enjoyable.
This article also appears in Canadian Developer Connection and The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century.
Tagged as:
Dell,
Hewlett-Packard,
laptops,
Lenovo,
LG,
netbooks,
notebooks,
Sony,
Toshiba,
Windows 7
Click the photo to see it at full size. Photo courtesy of 
