Symbian Blog: Articles by Scott Weiss

I’m an outspoken evangelist for mobile user experience.

Design in the Open: the S^3 Widget Carousel

Dec 16th by Scott Weiss Retweet Share on Facebook

What you see here is from a YouTube video featuring a Symbian code prototype of a new way to manage and enjoy widgets for Symbian^3. This is the release of the Symbian platform coming to device creators early next year. Click the image to see the video. It was produced using the Symbian emulator.

The prototype, created by Jaakko Haukipuro, the Package Owner for Homescreen, is not a completed design but instead a design concept, for which he would like your input.

The concept has a corresponding page on ideas.symbian.org where you can add your thoughts and vote. You can even add ideas of how to improve the design, which is the primary goal of this posting.

Business Objectives
The existing method for adding and removing items in the widgets is ready for improvement. It is based on menus and lists, while the proposed redesign is drag-and-drop. At the end of this posting is a sequence of graphics that depicts the current method for adding and removing items.

Summary of Changes
1. The widget “tray” is being replaced by a (kinetic) scrollable widget carousel. Flicking left or right within the carousel scrolls to reveal other widget items. A carousel will not scroll if it holds four or fewer items.
2. The call to action to edit the carousel is proposed to be a graphic, currently the small upper-left red box. Clicking that smaller red box causes the widget item palette to appear (and the larger, lower-right red box appears when the palette appears).
3. One can drag items from the palette to the carousel. Items can be dragged from the carousel to the palette, too.
4. Clicking the lower-right red box closes the editing session and hides the palette.  

Architecture
In the prototype, the carousel holds the shortcuts to the applications that were installed on the device. Data is managed in and published from each individual plug-in, making it possible to show any kind of item in the carousel. A new plug-in can be introduced to show your favourite contacts, bookmarks, MP3s, you name it.

How it is in Symbian^2
In the current Symbian platform, widget item selection is made via the Options menu, and then through a set of lists of items, as you can see below. The proposed change (above) is direct and drag-and-drop, much more modern, and is likely to be more fun to use. What do you think?

Tell Jaakko What You Think
Please post your comments on this posting’s Ideas.symbian.org page.


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UI Concept: San Francisco

Nov 4th by Scott Weiss Retweet Share on Facebook

Lee Williams included a 50-second video in his keynote last Tuesday at SEE that I’d like to share here. The video is an  artist’s concept for what a future Symbian UI might be, and we had a lot of fun making it.

In this video we demonstrate the following features:

  • Kinetic scrolling (in Symbian^2)
  • Location-based services (in Symbian^2)
  • Different widget sizes (coming in Symbian^3)
  • Animations and transitions (coming with NGA in Symbian^3)
  • Compass and accelerator integration (coming in Symbian^3)
  • Menu at the top of the screen (inspirational idea)
  • Toolbar at the bottom of the screen, replacing soft keys (inspirational idea)
  • Augmented reality integration (inspirational idea)

Because we’re hoping for you to comment, we’ve created a discussion thread. Please share your thoughts there.

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To Tap or To Tap, Tap?

Sep 21st by Scott Weiss Retweet Share on Facebook

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The Symbian user interface has a two-tap model for text-based lists, like Contacts or Messages: tap to highlight, and tap again to open. However, that UI differs from the Home Screen’s System Menu, where one can tap an icon once to open it. The two-tap model for lists inspired three contributors to the Symbian UI Brainstorm to suggest design changes. These suggestions inspired Ixonos to propose a Major Contribution Proposal entitled Remove Double Tapping from Platform Applications.

Single Tap Example

The above illustration shows the proposed change. In the current system, tapping on a contact would highlight it, and a second tap would open the contact. Many users have expressed frustration about this two-tap UI model. In the proposed change, the single tap would open the contact immediately. Like many great UI enhancements, this one seems quite obvious. In Symbian^3, we are striving for subtle, yet substantial usability improvements.

I had a quick chat with Ilkka Syrjälä from Ixonos about Ixonos and the Remove Double Tapping proposal.

Scott: Tell me a little about Ixonos:

Ilkka: Ixonos is an ICT (Information Communications Technology) services company creating innovative solutions for mobility, social media and digital services. We develop products and services that let people enjoy inspiring digital experience, anyplace, anytime. Our clientele comprises globally leading mobile and smartphone manufacturers, network vendors and telecom carriers.

Scott: What inspired Ixonos to propose this change to the Symbian^3 UI?

Ilkka: Symbian touch enabled devices use mainly single taps for interactions. However, there are places where double tapping is required and this breaks UI consistency. Since this idea was also introduced at the Symbian UI Brainstorm site, we contacted Symbian Foundation and started to discuss different contribution needs and priorities. These discussions led to the actual proposal that was published 16th of September.

Scott: How does this change affect lists when a keyboard is present, or on non-touch phones?

Ilkka: One of the goals and requirements regarding this change was not to break any 3rd party applications developed for Symbian platform. The proposed change affects only the platform application layer and only the touch functionality. Therefore the non-touch device functionality, like highlighting and selecting items in a list, remains as it is currently.

Scott: Thanks for your time today, Ilkka.

This contribution is a great example of the increasing diversity of contributions coming to the Symbian Foundation. The success of the Symbian operating system is directly related to the generosity of our contributors.

Please read through the proposal and share your comments on the proposal’s forum thread. And keep sending the great UI Brainstorm ideas!

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GIMP: Great open source UI example

Jul 13th by Scott Weiss Retweet Share on Facebook

gimp_yellowGIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program, and is free, open source software for photo retouching and image creation. It is a great example of user interface innovation in open source.

GIMP contributors can program new features, report bugs, write documentation, translate the product or its documentation, participate in a wonderful brainstorming site, work on the GIMP site, and more.

The GIMP UI brainstorm is a blog that is implemented as a visual brainstorm. Idea generators create images and email them to an email alias, and once vetted, the ideas are posted directly to the blog. As a proper brainstorm, comments are switched off.

The GIMP UI Redesign site is a wiki that contains background information and specifications for GIMP features. It is a great way to share technical details with the community.

The UI brainstorm is such a fantastic idea that Symbian has created its own version, aptly named Symbian UI Brainstorm, aptly named symbianuibrainstorm.wordpress.com. Please have a look and email your UI brainstorms for inclusion.

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MUI Diversity

Jun 29th by Scott Weiss Retweet Share on Facebook

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In response to Lauren Sarno’s post on this blog, …what you really, really want, Nick Healey asked, Where does UX live in the Symbian Foundation organisation? My role at Symbian Foundation is “UI Technology Manager,” and I look after the user experience of developers and consumers, covering our web sites and the Symbian operating system. I also chair the UI Council (UIC). Read more »

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Open Source and User Experience?

Jun 16th by Scott Weiss Retweet Share on Facebook

Neon_Open_Yellow

I’m Scott Weiss, User Interface Technology Manager for Symbian Foundation. I look after the User Experience of the Symbian operating system and family of Symbian web sites. I care about developers and consumers. A logical question for readers is, “how can one ensure a good user experience for open source software?” Read more »

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