Sunday, 2:00pm, Grand Salon A
Mobile sites are not an afterthought to be appended on the end of a development cycle. We cannot simply convert regular site functionality into something that fits nicely onto a small screen. We need to save the mobile web.
Smart phones are not the same as home computers. Computers have large displays, full-sized keyboards and fast connections, phones do not. But more importantly, smart phones have something that desktop computers do not. Context. We need to rebuild the mobile web from the ground up, capitalizing on the fact that we can know where our users are, and consequently we can know their intentions. Mobile websites should address the needs of users who are “out and about”, and any site that doesn’t… shouldn’t be considered part of the mobile web. Through a series of location specific apps we, the interaction designers of the world, will enrich and simplify daily life.
The Starbucks iTunes Store is a great example of how we can change, and improve, the way we live. iPhone users are presented with a special application when they are at a Starbucks café, an app that displays songs played at the café, and gives users a way to purchase them. I will also examine, and propose solutions for, Barnes & Noble and a grocery store.
The World Wide Web has too many Ws. Join me in focusing on the local.
INSTRUCTOR
John Pettengill
John has served as an information architect on a range of media and commerce projects while at Razorfish. Some of his past clients include Balenciaga, DailyCandy, Women’s Wear Daily and XM Radio. His chief priority is crafting compelling experiences for his users, and only then massaging site usability into place. Prior to Razorfish John worked at IKEA where he served as a graphic designer on internal and external facing projects, designing environmental graphics for IKEA retail locations across the US. John holds a BS in Mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.