Mobile Interaction Design

(Wireframe built using iPhoneMockup)

You may have seen through the infinite number of blogs and news feeds that there are 10 skills that developers will need in the next five years. Surprisingly, the last item in the list is Mobile Development. I’m a little confused by how low mobile design / development is ranked as we are at the beginning of a new era of interaction design based on gesture and touch. The very catalyst for the new methodologies and the widespread use of multi-gesturing and multi-touch is mobile devices. For example, with so many wireless options of interaction, some applications have actually made tactile contact a highlight of functionality within the app. See below:


Visual design of mobile applications is changing to incorporate new points of interaction such as depth perception and virtual environments. See below:


Stanford University, for example, is now offering their classes and programs through the iTunes U. Big deal, you say? Its not new that a school decides to spread knowledge through Apple. However, look at HOW they give information about heir school and classes to their students via an iPhone application. They use an iPhone application model that uses a 'nested application' view to give the user's the ability to feel like a single application is multifunctional. See below:



Lots of good ideas are coming out everyday and we, specifically the interaction designers and developers, can use these platforms to set good behavioral examples for the future and drive home basic interface rules and principles that have been ignored in other platforms. Just imagine the possibilities when the Palm Pre becomes available...