Designing Social Interfaces

Chapter 18. Other Contexts

Thinking Mobile

The proliferation of mobile devices worldwide, especially after the introduction of the iPhone a couple of years ago and other smart phones released on the market more recently (294 million mobile devices were sold in the first quarter of 2008 alone), means that every designer is going to be a mobile designer. As of December 2008, nearly 10% of U.S. customers and 34% of customers in Western Europe were using social networks from their mobile device, and this is expected to grow over the next few years. As Jenifer Tidwell recently said in a talk at Interactions 09 in Vancouver, “We’re all going to be mobile designers soon enough. If you’re a web designer, chances aren’t bad, you’re already doing it.”

When considering social interfaces, remember that the mobile device is inherently a social device. Build easy, one-click opportunities for connecting people with others and their content. Remember that people, especially teens, want to be connected to their network all the time. Mobile devices are along for the ride and are generally always available, whereas computers are not.

If you are designing a web service that is going mobile, bring the features that are most popular into the mobile space (Figure 18-1). But remember that screen size differences and bandwidth issues need to be addressed in order to make the experience appropriate for the medium. It is also important for designers to understand whether their service is going to be consumed ...