So, starting from this topic here:
I decided I’ll try and start slowly, so that I won’t do something bad. So, here is the inspiration and ideation:
Try not to bite too hard. 
PS: Don’t know why, but Photobucket simply feels the need to resize some of my files, sadly.
Also, if I started posting this, does it mean I should go and start creating the design?..or maybe I should come with more ideation for the interface as well?..
Seems like you disregarded a lot of the advice that we gave you (including our advice that you shouldn’t disregard advice from experienced professionals) and went ahead with a smartphone. It’s all gravy, but there’s really not much to give feedback on since there’s no premise set up, no research shown, no guiding idea to your design. You’re going to end up being bogged down by how complex a mobile device is (I know I was when I did one in senior year of college) unless you set up a few scenarios for yourself. Try to focus in on some specific user groups in specific contexts.
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Also, you’ve started off on the wrong foot by saying you don’t want to do anything bad. For every good design you see out there, there were thousands and thousands of bad designs. Don’t be afraid of failure.
Somehow I felt I did skip something.And generally feel that I skip some stuff, but don’t know what.
I know its a harder project, but its still something I want to try, at least as an aesthetic exercise.
Regarding premise, research, guiding idea…I don’t know exactly what I did skip, or what I missed. Bother giving me a link to a resource/example of how I should do it properly?.. I mean, an example of someone designing something from beginning to end, to have a model, or to understand what I might be missing/misunderstanding.
Research - I asked a couple of people about their smartphone issues/interests.
Guiding idea - I kinda wanted to make a smartphone that should be comfortable and nice, and try to come up with something new.
User groups - The people I asked did have a pretty solid knowledge of smartphones.
I know that practice makes perfect, but I want to know what I’m doing wrong in time before I start something else.
I don’t know, I kinda thought this whole design, although it is towards finding solutions to annoying problems wasn’t supposed to mean “designing something regarding every inch of it/rocket science stuff”.
I feel I lack something, or didn’t read something. I did read the thread, but I still feel I’m missing something.
Hey Deformat,
Julius has a great example of a project (modai) that can be found on his site.
You asked a couple people about their smartphone issues? What did they say? Any key insights? Show us! I am sure we would love to see what you learned. The key is understanding context!
You asked a couple people about their
smartphone issues? What did they say?
Any key insights? Show us! I am sure
we would love to see what you learned.
The key is understanding context!
Sure, this is what I asked:
I’m curious to see for what you’re using
your smartphones (those who own one.) and
I’d really, really appreciate if you would
help me out. Just check the stuff you’ re really
interested in.
First of all:
-no touchscreen (the classic 12 buttons or
Blackberry style?)
-touchscreen with more than 4 buttons
-touchscreen with 1-4 buttons
-full touch (google nokia n9, it has no
buttons except the ones for volume.)
Do you use it for:
-Internet
-Games (and please specify your level of
hardware desires: Low (e.g . under 600 mHz
processor, under a quarter gig of RAM),
medium (600 -800 mHz, half a GB) or high
(over the values mentioned earlier.).
-Business stuff (aka organize stuff.)
-Media (please specify the amount of GBs
you’d like for media/use for music.)
-Camera (and specify what features the
camera should have.)
Do you really care for:
-weight
-size
-type of display (please specify if you prefer
current screens such as AMOLED or have
absolutely no problems with those made up
5-6 years ago.)
-bluetooth
-multiple SIM card support
OS/ app support: Which ones do you prefer
out of those below? :
-Android
-iOS
-Symbian
-Other (please specify; you can specify
multiple options. I’m serious.)
Processor:
-monocore or dual core? what type do you
prefer?
-do you care if it is mono/dual and it has
the same amount of mHz.
Mobility:
-tablet size (fitting the hand) or phone size
(fitting the pocket)?
And the ultimate question: Would you
prefer to have all these features of a
smartphone…without the actual phone
feature (and be some sort of MP4 player/
tablet)?
Many thanks for having the interest of
helping me out. Even helping me out
partially is welcomed.
This is what they said:
As of right now, I’m using the Samsung Epic.
-It’s full touchscreen with a sliding keyboard
underneath.
-I use it primarily as a phone (calls,
messaging, ect), but I do use the GPS quite
often, and lots of games and internet when
i’m not busy doing other things. The camera
is negligible, but when I had my HTC EVO, I
used the camera as it was an 8MP one.
-The Epic is a fairly heavy phone, when
compared to some of the others i’ve used.
It’s also a little on the large size, but I don’t
mind, because it has an AMOLED screen.
I’ve never had a problem with it other than
when using a blackberry charge cord (same
plug design) , in which the screen doesn’t
respond. The bluetooth is great when
syncing to my computer.
-I use Sprint, so I don’t use SIM cards, but
rather CDMA networks.
-I love the Epic because it can multitask like
the iPhone 4G (use phone and internet at
same time) , but I do miss the EVO’s
Snapdragon processor.
-Mobility? It’s a phone it fits my pockets
well, although when I’ m wearing gym shorts,
it has a habit of pulling them down when
running due to it’s weight.
-Ultimately, I wouldn’t even care for it if it
wasn’t a phone. I could just grab an iPod
Touch 64GB for the same price.…
I have the (very dated) HTC Hero. Best
phone I’ve ever owned but it shows its age
compared to other smartphones, especially
since processor speeds took off about six
months from when I bought my phone.
When I bought it I used it for all of what
you mentioned (web-browsing , games,
organising, media and camera) but when I
went to America I bought a Nook Colour
and rooted it into an Android tablet. I tend
to carry that with me to work and when I go
on journeys and it’s extremely good for
browsing and games. I still use my Hero as
an MP3 player, for checking emails and
taking the odd photo though. A 16GB card
is enough for my for all my music (plus
space for anything extra) although when my
contract runs out I’m considering moving to
a network with unlimited usage (I only have
500MB /month right now) and upgrading to
a Spotify premium account.
I have no issues with a phone being heavy,
but after having my Hero for so long I’d like
my next phone to have a larger screen.
Bluetooth isn’t something I care about and
neither is the option of dual SIM cards.
As for operating systems, Android is
fantastic and, despite some flaws
(particularly the inconsistent interface) it’s
extremely flexible and open, which means
lots of fun rooting and installing new ROMs.
However, I do love the Harmattan interface
that is running over MeeGo on the N9. If
they actually sell it in the UK (it doesn’t look
like they will) I will give it a play and if I like
it enough I’ll buy it. Ultimately, I have my
Nook for fun Androidy things and my N9 for
everything else. Even though I have my
Nook, I still like having a smartphone. I
don’t always have my Nook and (more
importantly) don’t always have access to
Wifi. Being able to bring up Google Maps in
the middle of a street or find out what a
song is in a pub/ bar/club/ whatever is great
and I wouldn’t want that taken away.
No issue with what the processor is right
now since a 1GHz Snapdragon will do the
job in most situations. Android can’t fully
utilise two cores yet and the only thing that can be used at is games.…
At the moment, I’m using Sony Ericsson
Xperia X10.
First of all:
-touchscreen with more than 4 buttons
Do you use it for:
-Internet
-Games high (over the values mentioned
earlier.).
-Business stuff (aka organize stuff.)
-Media (8gb or more)
-Camera (8mp)
Do you really care for:
-weight: No
-size: Yea
-type of display: no
-bluetooth: yes
-multiple SIM card support: no
OS/ app support: Which ones do you prefer
out of those below? :
-Android
Processor:
-dual core
-do you care if it is mono/dual and it has
the same amount of mHz: no
Mobility:
-phone size
And the ultimate question: Would you
prefer to have all these features of a
smartphone…without the actual phone
feature (and be some sort of MP4 player/
tablet)?
No, phone is useful.
You’re asking the wrong questions - a lot of this stuff is very technology focused and you’re assuming the problem is the phone. Broaden to mobilility. To users, technology is invisible and really, most of the time they don’t care what the tech is as long as the device does what they care about it doing. The product is all about what goals a specific someone is trying to accomplish - how they use it, why they use it, what they do with it, and once you’ve talked to enough users, how the products targets specific user segments that differentiate on those key points. Technology is the means to the end. The problem with focusing on technology, is that you will confuse features with benefits/value props. Features are things like “touchscreen,” “AMD dual core processor,” “number of buttons,” etc. You aren’t at that point yet.
Do this:
Do these three things, and you’ve got a project. Don’t do them, and you’ve got another plastic box.
OK, I suddenly realized that this project might be a lot more complex than I imagined.
Then…I suppose it wouldn’t be wrong to start with a set of speakers, or some furniture?..even for this thing, would it be necessary to study the way people act with…chairs/speakers?..
Studying how people interact and finding real problems that users have will turn this project from a bunch of shiny photoshop renderings into a project that actually has some merit. Cell phones are a tough thing to tackle, they often turn into cool renderings with a few cool features added on and nothing ground breaking.
For a 16 year old with I’m guessing little to no formal ID training, its a lot to tackle in hopes of coming out with a very strong project. Plus people here expect a lot.
If you really like Andrew Kims style check out what he did when he was 16. Compare those projects to feedback being given here. Did he just make another plastic box ? Essentially yes. As you get more experience the entire ID process gets easier and your projects get more in depth, so keep on working and eventually it’ll come to you.
Compare those projects to feedback being given here. Did he just make another plastic box ? Essentially yes. As you get more experience the entire ID process gets easier and your projects get more in depth, so keep on working and eventually it’ll come to you.
So…you say that I should try making another plastic box or that I should try and follow the examples and ideas provided by the rest of the people?..
Or that I should finish this project?..
Also, what is ID training?..
It’s up to you. I’m saying if you follow the ideas and suggestions provided by everyone else. You will have a project that is more than some flashy renderings of a phone and the user interface.
When I said ID training I meant Industrial Design Education
But then, is any sociological research necessary for some speakers, or furniture?..
A key part of design is realizing that what you make doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and it’s important to look at how the design interacts with it’s users and the environment it exists in. Sure for personal projects you can make a set of speakers just to look cool, but the more you think of the product environment the better your projects will turn out and the easier it will get in the future.
Tho it’s a bit hard to imagine for me how I could make a sociological research for speakers. I mean, yeah, they depend, if you wanna have a party or if you’re a music-loving dude and listen to blues, lets say. But other than that, I just don’t have any idea on how I could do that.
Don’t focus on the object. Speakers = experiencing music. Learn about how people experience music. That will drive your ideas for speakers or whatever.
