New technologies leading to third-generation mobiles gradually widen the scope of mobile services and mobility in general. As markets grow they increasingly get segmented, and new opportunities arise with them. Mobile terminals have changed to open platforms for third-party software developers. In the 1990s the people directly involved in designing mobile user interfaces were very few. Now mobile services and downloadable applications start to enable much wider participation in the creation of mobile
Nokia has been instrumental in creating benchmark mobile user interfaces during 1990s. Summarizing this work and spreading our experiences to a larger audience has, we hope, a potential for contributing to the work of all who attempt to design usable, interesting, and perhaps delightful mobile experiences.
The user interface design culture, which this book describes, first came to life through the influence of a few mobile interaction design pioneers in the company. It
In the beginning of 2001 we asked for contributions to a book on Nokia user interface design and usability from our Nokia colleagues. We received many interesting and personal proposals, many of which we had to reject due to the practical limitations of the book. We want to
During the process of editing the book Turkka Keinonen moved from the Nokia Research Center to the University of Art and Design Helsinki.
We want to acknowledge the Department of Product and Strategic Design for allowing Turkka to finalize the project. Harri Kiljander became Director of User Interfaces at Nokia Mobile Phones in the beginning of 2003 and Christian has taken on new challenges in Nokia.
In addition, we want to acknowledge Nina Lindholm, the wife of Christian, and Maarit Laanti, the wife of Harri, for their loyal support. We are grateful to Valtteri and Cleo Bade for visualizing the concepts of the book, Tapani Pelttari for his creative use of photography, and Tapio Hedman and Eivor Biese for supporting the book in its early stages.
Finally we want to thank all those Nokia users who have
Christian Lindholm
Turkka Keinonen
Harri Kiljander
Helsinki
Turkka Keinonen
Developers and designers have been taught that people are not crazy about new technologies but they appreciate real benefits in products. At the same time, we have set up our
We, too, contribute to the ascendency of technology. Being in the vanguard of early adopters is a real “must,” we say. Being first to find and use a new solution is a value in itself. These arguments are stated overtly and even proudly. Behavior that can be
The enthusiasm is understandable and probably even unavoidable. Technology raises
Our experience has been that the intersection of user needs and the industry interests increasingly takes place only
after
product launch. The birth of a mobile communication culture has been so sudden that it’s no
It won’t be the first time they’ve met. Why is this case of special interest? We think that industry and the user will find it exceptionally challenging and worthwhile to agree on mobile communication technology. The reasons for this belief are rooted in mobility, communication, technology, and design.