Feeling Mobile?

I recently upgraded my old phone (Nokia 5140) after about 2 ½ years. By today’s standards, I kept it for a long time. After receiving my slinky new 6300, I came to realise why.

The old one was more weighty (but not heavy), which meant you could actually find it in your handbag, and had pleasing proportions. It had a rubber casing, which is really tactile (not in a kinky way), so it didn’t slide around. Also, the camera was pretty rubbish, which meant the only things I could really do (and need to do) were call & text.

The new phone is made of that naff ‘plastic posing as metal’ material which slinks around my tardis-like bag. It even slid out my pocket on the bus the other day – causing untold hassle whilst waiting for a replacement (although I have quite enjoyed my mobile phone holiday). This never would have happened with the clunky touchy-feely one.

The new one does have a couple of plus points: a. I can read the screen better (graphic design is slowly killing my eyesight) and, b. a decent camera means I can send funny pictures to my mum, which keeps her happy. However physically and emotionally, I hate it.

But then you aren’t meant to like them, are you? You’re meant to get bored of them and think they can no longer serve your needs, so that the phone companies make more money.

The increased functionality of the new phone also bugs me. It means you just have more steps in between reaching each function (going back and forth between icons and menus). I like the web usability recommendation that says you should minimise the amount of clicks needed to get anywhere between information. Why isn’t this applied more frequently to products?

Donald A. Norman, the author of The Design of Everyday Things refers to the increasing functionality of products as ‘creeping featurism’.

“It is the users who request the features: the designers are simply obliging them. But each new set of features adds immeasurably to the size and complexity of the system. More and more things have to be made invisible, in violation of all the principles of design. No constraints, no affordances; invisible, arbitrary mappings.”

By creating cold, meaningless products with too many functions, companies are reducing the amount of time you want that object in your life for, thus perpetuating the cycle of desire. These thoughts have inspired me to try and sew some kind of case for my new phone, to try and forge some kind of emotional relationship with the horrid little thing.

-Posted by Emily

Comments

[David Willans]

Nokia have just released their latest and greenest (but not that green, the box is only 70% recycled material) phone, check it out below -

http://www.smartplanet.com/news/tech/10001087/video-nokia-3110-evolve.htm

I agree with you that the more functionality you get, the more cumbersome and frustrating the phone, which does make me want to swap it for one which is more elegant in design and use. I guess that's why everyone loves Apple, because they do the usability thing really well.

[emarketed]

i like the new one...

Nice post....