Designing interactions for mobile computers

 The term "interaction design", coined by Bill Mogridge and Bill Verplank in the late 1980s, refers to "developing interactive products that support communication and interaction in people's daily and work lives" or, more broadly, "to design anything digital and Interactive ”with a focus on its subjective and qualitative aspects (as Moggridge writes in Designing Interaction, 2007). Is about creating a user experience.

Interactive products today are computer-based, meaning that interaction design relates to all branches, fields, and approaches related to the research and development of human-centered computing systems. Thus, along with design disciplines such as academic disciplines such as graphic and industrial design, psychology and sociology, and interdisciplinary industries such as human-computer interaction and information systems, interaction design also includes technical academic disciplines in the field of information science and technology. However, interaction design differs from each of these practices, disciplines, and industries because of their different focus and purpose. Interaction relates to the design of the overall interactive products and the user experience with all the factors that can contribute to their successful design.

"When we design computer interactive systems, we don't just design what they look like, but how they behave. We design the interaction of people and technology." - Bill Mogridge, "Interaction Design". As American Artificial Intelligence researcher Terry Vinograd writes in his book Bringing Design to Software (1996), interaction design can be compared to architecture in many ways. The architect takes care of the people inside the building and their interactions. For example, will the space match the lifestyle of the family living in it? Are functionally connected spaces nearby? - and so on and so forth. Engineers assisting the architect care about the structural integrity of the building and the methods of construction, and knowledge of other disciplines, such as psychology and the social sciences, can also influence an architect's ability to create functional and livable spaces. Just as a good architect understands other related topics, so does a good interaction designer. However, just as there is a difference between designing and building a home, there is also a difference between developing an interactive product and creating its software. Mobile interaction development is an area of ​​interaction design specifically related to the creation of user experiences involving interactive products, devices, systems, and services that are not static in the sense that people can carry or connect them while roaming in space. This has been made possible by advances in mobile computing - as previously described - that has allowed designers and system developers to come up with interactive products that are small enough to carry, hold or wear. Provide useful and attractive interactive systems and services. The list includes handheld and wearable devices, PDAs, mobile phones, smartphones, portable digital media players, handheld game consoles, etc., and software applications and services that can be accessed or accessed on those devices.

However, the design of mobile interactions is not only consistently simplified and managed by the latest advances in computer science and computer engineering. The industry is advancing with the ability of UX designers to develop new ways of using mobile computing and incorporate new affordable mobile computing and networking technologies into innovative interactive products and solutions. Accordingly, developers have long gone beyond the "mobile" hype of the late 1990s and evolved into "smart aspirations to design mobile phones that work at the right time and know their location - adapt" (Matt Jones and Gary Masters). ("Mobile Interaction Design - Jones, Matt and Marsden, Gary," Mobile Interaction Design ", 2006). The challenges of designing mobile experiences have evolved over time and become more complex as new technologies evolve and new ways of using interactive products emerge. The early development of mobile interactions was related to the physical design of laptop computers. This approach has evolved to focus on manual control and input devices and interaction styles suitable for use on mobile devices. For mobile phones, the interaction design problems were mainly associated with a reduction in the physical size of the devices, requiring a standard 12-key numeric keypad for optimization of limited screen area usage and more potential uses. With the advent of hybrids - functionally - and more sophisticated devices, the challenge for interaction designers is to develop new shapes and sizes of tools and design innovative applications available on the most advanced hardware without simplifying the model of use. For the ever-expanding range of functionally specialized mobile devices, such as digital cameras and media players, the interaction design of simplifying the alignment of all these devices and their content in interactive computing systems and increasingly complex ecosystems of digital data is a major challenge. Today, the challenges of designing mobile interactions directly affect the development of software applications.

The physical dimension seems to have stabilized - at least for a while - in the basic dimensions, geometry, and interchangeability introduced by Apple iPhone in 2007, usually the same for many years and repeated by all major phone manufacturers. This stability focuses on the free downloadable and purchasing third-party applications available for these devices, in the form of relatively small programs with highly specialized functionality, not only by large software corporations but also by small companies and individuals. Have also been developed by Students By the end of 2010, there were over 300,000 third-party apps in the Apple App Store and over 80,000 in Google's Android Market. More than 10 billion iPhone and iPod Touch apps have been downloaded in less than three years. However, many interesting and innovative mobile applications appear daily in the online stores of Google and Apple, and despite their developers and interaction designers around the world pushing the limits of mobile computing devices, the status of mobile compared to the application development industry in the mid-1990s. Can be. There is tremendous interest and excitement, development tools are readily available, and a huge audience of potential users. Beyond the potential of the Internet in the mid-1990s, there are also well-established digital value chains and micropayment mechanisms. But, as in the case of the World Wide Web 15 years ago, we still do not see or understand the significance and extent of the impact that the development of third-party applications for mobile devices will have on all aspects of our lives - both in manufacturing activities and passive entertainment.

The role of context

From the early days of mobile computing and related human-computer interactions, awareness and consideration of the context in which interactive devices are used have been especially important for developers in the design and construction of mobile systems, as well as in their subsequent evaluation and study. Mobile device usage references have been described as particularly complex - for example, compared to traditional fixed office usage references - their highly dynamic, complex, and truly mobile portals have often been suggested that when interactive mobile computer systems are used, the surrounding context Other actions are often more important than actually interacting with and using the system - walking down the street, talking in a bar or cafe, visiting. Patient in hospital. There are many different definitions of context, and there is constant discussion about what it is and how it plays a role in relation to mobile computing. The initial work context on mobile interactions is primarily regarded as the location of people and objects. In later works, the concept of context was expanded to include a more global set of factors such as the physical and social aspects of the environment. And Day refers to the context in Understanding and Using Context (2001) "Any information that may be used to indicate a situation in which the essence (entity). Which includes the user and the application. " While this definition may seem broad, it does not specify what specific type of information can be used in practice to illustrate such a situation. Contrary to this notion, Albrecht Schmidt and his colleagues, in the article More in context than location (1999), put forward a reference model that includes two categories: human factors) and the physical environment. Human factors include three categories: information about the user (psychological profile, emotional state, etc.), user's social environment (presence of others, group mobility, etc.), and user's actions (current activities, goals, etc.). The physical environment consists of three categories: location (absolute and relative position, etc.), infrastructure (computing resources, etc.), and physical conditions (sound, light, etc.). This model provides a good list of specific contextual factors that complement broad definitions such as the creation of Anind Dey (see paragraph above).

Other functions are not as extensive as highlighting various reference factors but go into one or more related details. Philip Agree's Changing Places: References to Awareness in Computing (2001) and the above Malcolm McCullough (Digital Foundation, 2004) are of particular importance. Physical context, includes architectural structures and elements of the artificially created environment, for example, attractions/landmarks and travel routes. Paul Dourish's writings emphasize the social context in which people interact and behave around themselves. What we talk about in his 2004 paper when we talk about the context also argues that context cannot be defined as a static description of a situation/state, but, on the contrary, is conditioned and maintained. Activities of the people. As a result, it is constantly refined and redefined during the operation. These functions provide us with additional contextual factors that are particularly relevant to mobile interactions in specific contexts and the understanding that the definition of context itself is contextual. The mobile computing context touches on many different disciplines in the field of mobile interaction design, which has influenced the shape of the method, technique, and theory, both within and outside the boundaries of internal discipline. Different disciplines have approached the issue of contexts differently, resulting in different responses. In the field of mobile interaction research, where context plays a clear central role as a major phenomenon under investigation, the challenge is to theoretically understand what contexts are used and how they can be described, and to partially examine whether What is characteristic of specific references. Interest can be used, and the phenomenon of context can be studied and analyzed in a way that produces such an understanding. This led to the theoretical and socio-technological research, proceeding mainly from methods and principles borrowed from sociology, anthropology, and chronology. In systems development and mobile computer design, the challenge from a context perspective is primarily to match systems and contexts and then structurally support this "balance" through new or modified design/development methods. To date, there have been relatively few publications on the subject, however, and a number of systematic studies are currently being conducted on methods and principles derived from industries such as human-computer interaction, software development, and informatics.

In evaluating the utility of mobile devices, the complexity of the context lies primarily in understanding its role in terms of scale, richness, and validity of experimental findings and how utility tests can be performed in real context using new or modified methods and techniques. . This has led to an increase in empirical research, based primarily on methods and principles associated with utility engineering. In the implementation (introduction) of mobile technology, the problem of context is largely related to the fixation, formalization, and computational modeling of this feature "in digital", along with the understanding of the ways in which these models are used in construction. Reference sensitive systems are able to respond to their environment. This approach has led to a wide range of technical studies based primarily on general informatics methods and principles. In mobile user experience research, the point of reference is to understand how diverse and dynamic user contexts affect the human experience of using technology and to describe how that experience can be improved. These theoretical, conceptual, and design-oriented studies are based on methods and principles that originally pertain to a wide range of disciplines - from sociology and psychology to cognitive science, computer science, human interaction, and human-computer interaction.

Equality.

This is not to say that context is a new phenomenon that has just emerged on the research agenda with the advent of mobile technology. Reference to the second wave or pattern of HCI in human-computer interaction has really been an important concept. The first illustration of HCI was a combination of engineering and human factors focused on optimizing human-machine compatibility. The second wave was largely based on cognitive science, focusing on the simultaneous processing of information in machines and the human brain, but also on the use of interactive computing in the workplace context. However, while the second-wave HCI meets the third-wave challenges (2006) by computer science professor Susan Bodkar (2006), there has been much discussion about the complex concept of context, and these studies have yielded little in terms of definition and practical use. Really valuable for the design of human-computer interaction interactions. In the third instance of HCI, attention is further diverted with the emergence of the ubiquitous information society "after the desktop", where technology "transmits from the workplace to our homes, everyday life and culture" (Bodkar, The Second Wave). This means that context is a primary concept that we need to not only clearly define, but also better understand in terms of its complexity, relevance, and impact on the user experience to better justify the development of new technologies. The mobile engagement design comes from the second and third waves of HCI. Interaction design came out of the second instance, but the huge impact of mobile computing on the general population later became a factor contributing to the formation, power, and speed of the third wave, providing completely new opportunities and models for the use of computers technology. , Which we are seeing today on a planetary basis.

 The effect of research on the study

Much of the impact of mobile computing expected in the past will be driven by the skillful and creative interaction design envisioned by adventurous developers and designers who understand how useful and enjoyable utilities and user experiences respond to needs, desires and usage contexts. Unfortunately, however, the current research literature on mobile interaction design either does not provide a sufficient foundation on which developers and designers can base their innovations and methods of interaction, or is inconsistent with methodological guidelines for how to approach the process. While there are many science-based publications on user interface and interaction design for desktop applications and websites, so far there is very little equivalent literature on mobile interaction design. Although the history of mobile computing goes back almost three decades, and for about 2/3 of that history has played an important role in shaping interactions, only one notable general textbook has been published on the subject - already mentioned by Jones and Marsden. Book, designing for mobile interactions. And while this book is a brilliant starting point for solving specific development problems of mobile interactions, it still contains the completeness and depth of textbooks equivalent to human-computer interaction and interaction design for the personal computer, for example, The Art of Human, presented by Brenda Laurel in 1990. -Computer interface design). Thus, in the context of numerous significant real-world studies of interactions over the past decade and a half, the potential opportunity for large-scale, real-world impact has been missed. Developing practice mobile interactions. While this state of affairs indicates that the field of mobile interaction design is still not stable enough for the development of general guidelines, principles, methods, and techniques for development, it also indicates the possibility and needs to do more to strengthen the theoretical foundation. The industry.

Some current textbooks dealing with specific aspects of designing interactions for mobile devices, systems, and services, such as, for example, "Anytime, Anywhere Computing: Mobile Computing Concepts and Technology" (1998), are primarily specific and highly targeted. . To overcome certain class of devices and software platforms, as well as transient technical limitations - the shortcomings of certain operating systems, low display resolution, low processing power, limited memory, and low bandwidth. Such guides are undoubtedly useful when designing applications for well-defined platforms, the weakness of this type of work is that it is overly practical they are highly sensitive to technological advances and therefore quickly become irrelevant as new devices and platforms emerge. As a result, the "shelf life" of such functions is reduced, as they are short-lived and overly specific guidelines for the development of user interfaces connected to a specific point in time, rather than the embodiment of commonly applied and timeless principles. Interaction design. However, the second category of mobile interaction design textbooks seems to be a step in the right direction, a collection of case studies of successful and influential design decisions, such as Information Appliances and Beyond (2000 Eric Bergman, Mobile Usability: How Nokia Changed Mobile Phones). Custom Design Projects iPhone User Interface Design Projects by Face, Christian Lind home 2003 and a team of authors. These papers aim to summarize important universal lessons learned from the experiences of real-life mobile designers. However, the potential weakness of these functions is that over time they are seen as comparable and difficult to meet with current design challenges. Which raises the level of education from practical and tangible to abstract and general.

The way forward: toward digital ecology

What will be our next step? As discussed earlier, the emerging trend in mobile computing is the creation of digital ecosystems in which interactive mobile systems and devices are considered less as separate entities, and more as part of the use of artifacts or broader references to ecology. The latter of the mentioned approaches seems particularly interesting from the point of view of further research and development of mobile interactions.

Modern interactive mobile systems, services, and devices have become an integral part of the ubiquitous computing environment. However, while their appearance, the impression they make, and their features affect our daily lives as we integrate applications with a variety of computing technologies, these artifacts and ecosystems are not entirely clear to us or created by traditional methods of user-centered design. And utility Unlike more traditional technical artifacts, they represent a holistic user experience of value and pleasure, requiring careful attention to the diversity, complexity, and dynamics of their use. Therefore, we need to develop more theoretical and conceptual tools to help us see and describe this emerging phenomenon in a way that informs and inspires further project activities. The use and development of the term "digital ecology" are proposed as a way to incorporate and label this next work. Ecology is the study of the elements that make up an ecosystem and, in general, an understanding of the relationship between organisms and their environment. The concept is not synonymous with "environment" or "conservation" but is essentially holistic and interdisciplinary in nature. Environmental thinking is not limited to biology as a discipline. For example, industrial ecology studies the flow of materials and energy through a network of production processes, and human ecology is an interdisciplinary field of research that provides the basis for understanding and researching the social interactions that take place between people in society. Similarly, it is suggested that "digital ecology" is a useful way of describing the study of the components that make up a computer ecosystem and a method of holistically understanding the interactions between these elements and their environment.

Thus, digital ecology means the interconnected digital systems (e.g., mobile and ubiquitous computing) and the processes by which these systems operate, interact, emerge, converge and evolve. It is about understanding the function, use, and testing of digital ecosystems and the ecology of the artifacts around us, as well as the design processes that create and promote these devices, technologies, and built environments.

Designation Mobile devices Specify the class of portable electronic devices for personal use. As a rule, these are miniature "pocket" devices with special, but more often universal functions, ie. Devices that connect multiple mobile devices. Such multifunctional devices are also called gadgets (from the English "gadget" - contraption, device, device, trinket).

Mobile devices include:

1. Mobile phone
2. Smartphone
3. Communicators (PDA)
4. Portable radio
5. Camera
6. Tablets
7. Fitness trackers
8. Smart bracelets
9. Music players
10. Electronic books

Mobile devices are united by an autonomous power supply (rechargeable battery or non-rechargeable battery), small size and weight, the presence of controls in the form of buttons, a touch screen (touch screen), and the presence of remote control via radio (Bluetooth). Wi-Fi, etc.). The term Personal Digital Assistant, PDA, is used to designate mobile computers (PDAs) in English, which can be translated as "digital secretary" in Russian. The term "smartphone" refers to hybrid mobile devices that combine the functions of a mobile phone and a PDA. Most mobile devices have one or more built-in radio transmitters that allow communication with other devices, including the Internet, directly or over a wireless network. The most common wireless technologies for mobile devices: are Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RFID, and NFC.

Mobile phone

The term "mobile phone" refers to a voice duplex (when two subscribers can hear and speak at the same time) referring to radio communication with the ability to access a local or global telephone network and receive individual calls from it. Mobile phones consist of two classes of devices - cordless phones (radio expanders) and mobile phones.

Wireless phone

The first category includes analog and digital DECT home telephones with radio handsets. This class of mobile devices unites the presence of a base station ("base"), which is connected to the telephone network by a wired interface. Such mobile phones have a range of up to several tens of meters. Their function is to ensure the freedom of movement of the subscriber within the same premises, apartment, or office. Some of the more powerful models in the series, such as the Panasonic XK-T7980BX or SANYO-958, allow communications up to a distance of several hundred meters when using an additional amplified base. Even more, the distance was provided by the range's powerful cordless telephones. The Harvest, a model of radio tube with a transmitter power of 1-5 W on the tube and up to 25 W on the base, provides a communication range of up to several tens of kilometers from a high-rise building on the roof. Such mobile devices no longer fall under, and indeed they were illegal. The problem was not only in the high power but also in the radio frequencies used, which intersect with the range of other departments and services in the Russian Federation. Officers from the Department of Internal Affairs of the "R" section (then "K section") fought hard against the violators.

Cellular telephone

The second category of mobile phones includes cellular operators' subscriber phones. This class of mobile devices integrates the base station infrastructure and the presence of communication channels that ensure the operation of the cell phone. Unlike cordless phones in this category of mobile devices, the customer owns only the cell phone, and the radio access service is provided by the cellular company with the ability to make calls both to the operator's network and to subscribers of other telephone networks. The range, set of services, and level of service is determined by the cellular network coverage, the communication standard (D-AMPS).

Microcellular PBX DECT

The third category includes DECT mobile devices connected by a microcellular system. Such devices occupy an intermediate position among the previously described categories of mobile devices. On the one hand, the entire infrastructure belongs to the user, on the other hand, the range of the system can be expanded by installing additional "bases" and repeaters supporting the roaming (or "handover") function. Microcellular networks provide seamless switching from one BS to another without interrupting communication. The microcellular network DECT radio provides the ability to move around the office, enterprise, or cottage area with the telephone, while in constant contact, and if you're talking on the phone while moving, the connection will not be lost moving. As a radiotelephone, a specially designed handset for use in the microcellular network of ordinary household radiotelephones and mini-automatic telephone exchanges of the DECT standard can be used.

Smartphone

Smartphone (smartphone) - A cell phone, intended primarily for voice communication, but at the same time has advanced functionality for working with information (music, video, mail, internet surfing, electronic documents, etc.). Smartphones have powerful processors that are more powerful than regular phones. The term "smartphone" was coined by Ericsson in 2000 to refer to their new phone, the Ericsson R380s. The device was relatively small in size (130x50x26 mm) and relatively lightweight (169 g). A special feature of the device was the touch screen enclosed by a flip-top cover. By the name "smartphone" the manufacturer emphasized the intelligence of the device, but this device cannot be considered as a complete smartphone, as it does not allow the installation of third-party applications (OS was off).

PDA or PDA

Pocket computers (PDAs) or PDAs (personal digital assistants) do not have a built-in cellular module and are handheld mini-computers. Pocket PC has many functions. The main ones are reading books, writing and editing texts (some models have QWERTY keyboards), music player, internet, organizer, games, and watching videos. Another important PDA is application navigation. In fact, modern car navigators and e-books based on the mobile OS are exclusive PDAs.

Communicator

A communicator is a mobile device that combines the functions of a cell phone and a handheld computer (PDA). The communicator is designed to provide telephone service as well as work with data. As a rule, the communicator differs from a mobile operating system with a large touch screen smartphone, the ability to significantly change the user interface, and the ability to install a mobile application. At the same time, the communicator is compact enough to be used as a phone without the use of speakerphones and headsets. The main disadvantage of the communicator compared to the traditional PDA is the short battery life.

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MD. MOSHIUR RAHMAN