Category list

Section 2.3. MessagingSocial Networking

Types of SMS Service > Messaging/Social Networking

2.3. Messaging/Social Networking

Messaging or social networking services like Dodgeball, Twitter, 3Jam, UPOC, and Microsoft's Slam, act as an intermediary between users, receiving a message from one user , then sending on some form of the message to other users based on some logic.

Dodgeball, for example, enables location-aware social networking. The Dodgeball system has a database of known locations. Users establish a network of friends , then "check-in" by sending an SMS to the service with their location. For example, let's say I wanted to let people know I was at the club "Hive Mind" on 4th Avenue in Seattle. I could send:

@Hive Mind

And all my friends would receive:

dodgeball.com says: Jordan S. @ Hive Mind
(4065 4
^th
Ave NE at 42
^nd
St)
at 10:28 PM. Reply w/"@venue name" to check in!"

Twitter offers a similar system, but more focused on social blogging and less on location-specific check-ins. Twitter allows users to be "friends" or "followers" of one another. Messages sent to Twitter are redistributed to all the friends and followers of the sender. Person to person messages can also be sent directly through the Twitter system, using the d <username> <message> syntax.

3Jam, UPOC and Slam all offer group-centric text messaging. Users establish shared groups (rather than social networks) and message with them. Any message sent to a group is redistributed to everyone in that group via SMS, and replies are sent to the same set of people who received the original message. This allows for conversations and threads in a way that social network-based services do not.

Messaging and social networking SMS services generally require a relatively complex syntax for interaction, so they are often supplemented with a web site for some of the "heavy lifting " user interface (e.g., group management or preferences).

Types of SMS Service > Action

2.4. Action

Services in this category allow the user to initiate an event. For example:

The American Idol television show allows viewers to send in a text message to vote for their favorite contestant.
CIMB Investment Bank allows users to buy and sell stock via text message.
DPS-Promatic allows users to control their home thermostat and lights via text message.

Types of SMS Service > Art

2.5. Art

We're just such big fans of these services that we couldn't help mentioning them. There are some great examples out there of SMS services that don't fit cleanly into any utilitarian category, but are valuable in their own way. We'll restrain ourselves to a couple examples:

Troika's SMS Guerilla Art Projector projects SMS messages from a distance onto any surface (http://www.troika.uk.com/sms-guerrilla-projector.htm)
Three Maryland Institute of the Arts students created a museum piece in which museum-goers send their mood into the piece via SMS and the piece adapts throughout the evening (read about it in The Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/16/AR2007031602193.html)

SMS Interaction Design Considerations > Short message length

Chapter 3. SMS Interaction Design Considerations

Many of the same principles that apply to designing a software application apply to designing an SMS service: keep it simple, interface text should be meaningful and understandable to the user, always give the user a means to solve a problem that arises, etc. However, the unique qualities of SMS introduce some unique challenges and pitfalls, as well.

3.1. Short message length

The most obvious constraint on designing an SMS service is the maximum size of the message: in English, the best case, you get 160 characters to get your message across to your user. To put that into perspective, this sentence is 84 characters (including the period).

There are a several strategies you can consider as a service author:

Aggressive editing : After you think you've pared down your message as short as it can go, take off another 10 characters. Try dropping nouns, verbs, and prepositions and see if the message still makes sense. Ask yourself if you need all the information and context you are providing in the message. Brevity is the soul of wit and the heart of SMS.
Text speak :It may compromise the professional air of your service, but, if used properly, it could win you street cred. U can m8k yr msg shrtr! (Used inappropriately, this will win you ridicule.)
Multiple messages : This should be your last resort, but you can send a single "message" as multiple SMSs. If you attempt to send a message longer than 160 characters, the carrier will typically break the message up into multiple messages for you, but the breaks may not be where and when you want. Avoid orphaned words or forcing users to click between messages to complete a thought by breaking a message at logical stop points (e.g., the end of a sentence).

When you send multiple messages, it is standard practice to number messages and include the total number of messages in the communication, as they may not be delivered in the order sent (or may not be delivered at all). For example "1/2: Lorem Ipsum" would indicate the first message of 2. An ellipsis (...) at the end of the first message is another cue to your user that another message is on its way.

NOTE

Many phones and carriers support segmented or concatenated SMS . A segmented SMS message is a long message broken into multiple standard-size messages with a header containing segmentation information. The receiving phone uses the header information to re-assemble the multiple messages into the single message.

An advantage of segmented SMS is that it is backward compatible. If the receiving phone does not support segmented SMS, it will simply display each segment as an individual message.

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