the trouble with context

the trouble with context...presented at IA Konferenz, 2011

http://www.flickr.com/photos/procsilas/2833014872

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lonelyfox/4815935744

remarkably simple...

things used to be

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oimax/3800475934

limited aention

tedious input

tiny screen

distractionspublic space

glanceable?

personal

one hand

location?

understanding the ‘mobile context’

designing for mobile meant

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7802947@N02/5547816310

need a quick break

only one hour left

oh no...forgot to go to the bank

motivation

...its impact on

...long day

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7802947@N02/5547816310

playing a game

sending a text

checking the time of the next bus

finding a bank nearby

behaviour

...and on

so mobile design guidelines, went something like this...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/4860505549/

Context is King: circumstances or conditions that surround a person, place or thing. Content is of little value if it does not address the context of where you are. - Cameron Moll, SXSW, 2007“

http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/4860505549/

Google (2007) breaks down mobile users into three behaviour groups:A. "Repetitive now"B. "Bored now"C. "Urgent now"

“

http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/4860505549/

Mobile user: typically on the go in an unpredictable environment, interested in quick glanceable information, focused on discrete individual tasks,is often distracted.- Joe Marini @ MIX 2010

“

lately however, we have a problem...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barkbud/4914492619

cues and guidelines that were important logical just a few years months ago are still useful...but no longer reliable

statements such as these are becoming far more common

http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/4860505549/

i love it! nice and clean look, easy to navigate and easy to read. well done! but...can you put a bit more news on there? “

Source: Comments from readers regarding The Guardian’s new mobile web site

http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/4860505549/

There should be a text only version of the (desktop) site for those of us who don't like the business of the main site.“

Source: User talking about his habit of using the mobile Guardian site on his PC

http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/4860505549/

...mobile users want to see our menu, hours, and delivery number...(but)...desktop users definitely want to see this one megabyte PNG of somebody smiling at a salad.“

Source: SitePoint Podcast: Responsive web design with Jeremy Keith

...for fun, Google “Women Laughing

Alone With Salad”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/4860505549/Source: Mark Kirby, The mobile context

I’m definitely moving, I’m in a car. I’m going to look at your website. This doesn’t mean my intent is to find an address, or quickly usea news site...

Context can’t predict the way a user is going to use the site. Mind reading is no way to base fundamental content decisions.

“

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcoarment/2035853550

so why this change?

and what does it all mean?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dumbledad/3262185149

<historical interlude>

free platformslow cost components

a perfect storm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deks/697297227

+

=

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/3300199882

http://casium.fr/component/kashyap/bc_detail/109 http://www.visionmobile.com/blog/2010/09/waking-the-dragon-the-rise-of-android-in-china-2/

+

a free operating system (Android)dual core ARM 9 @ 416MHz2G GSM/EDGE2.8” QVGA resistive touch screen2MP cameraGPSWIFI and BlueTooth siliconweb browser

<$90 components + plastic case~4 weeks to market!

= Actions-Semi, MTK, TongXinDa , Rockchip...

23%

Global smartphone penetration is only 23%...http://www.visionmobile.com/blog/2011/04/100-million-club-2h10/

the majority smartphones are not yet

despite this growth

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanj/4432327487

the smartphone of two years ago... but the featurephone of today is

Source: Tomi Ahonen Consulting http://www.flickr.com/photos/johanl/4424185115

of new handsets now includea web browser85%

and (most of) the rest can easily install one

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hendry/5491251497/

aren’t just small but connected devices

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mackarus/4289960218

they’re whatever shape

we need them to be

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chelsea_nj/4223680604

One of the interesting estimates is that there are about 35 billion devices connected to the Internet.

Soon, there will be so many that we’ll stop counting.

- Eric Schmidt, Google“

</historical interlude>

they spent about an hour staring like this...

even beer than cake...

...which brings us to the present

http://www.flickr.com/photos/armaggeusa/3176297283

The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.

- Mark Weiser (1991)

“

77%

or 5.3 billion at the end of 2010 – U.N. Telecommunications Agency, http://www.itu.int

of the planetowns a mobile devices

1.3 billionalready use the ‘mobile internet’

...includes WAP and ‘real web’ via Tomi Ahonen Consulting

USA 25%

Related: Opera mobile-only study specific to India (May 2011) and NY Times article on lack of Internet access in rural America (Feb 2011)

UK 22%

India 59%

S. Africa 57%Indonesia 44%

China 22%

Egypt 70%

Russia 19%

home ADSL~$100/mth,PAYG unlimited mobile data~$17/mth

Based on “Users who never or infrequently use the desktop web”, Source: On Device Research, Dec 2010

2-3GB data~$2/mth

25% of American’s don’t use the Internet at all

is the only access point ...and for 1/3 of us, a mobile device

We're in a world of one line of connectivity. That's us. You see...we don't have to "go" to the internet any more.Mitch Joel, TedX Montreal“

http://www.flickr.com/photos/misbehave/2352753067

http://www.flickr.com/photos/williambrawley/4522648456

our behaviour and our expectations... this is having a dramatic impact on

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whatcouldgowrong/5320553588

is no longer “an activity”... using the internet

full-sized keyboard

comfy chair

focused user

work surface

environment

privacy

unlimited data

reliable power source

reliable network

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuzzcat/22019163

with a fairly specific context

...people reach for the internet using whatever device makes sense to them at that time

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghewgill/5046616680

...[the Kindle browser] is somewhat slow but it definitely works, in fact my teen daughter uses hers constantly...among other things she uses it to keep in touch with her friends.People discussing the Kindle browser on a message board

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghewgill/5046616680

“

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcfrog/4692750598

...the mobile internet is more convenient than my home connection...say 30% of respondents - Yahoo/Nielsen Mobile Shopping PDF“

the traditional ‘mobile context’ is still valid...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/missmeng/5327470961Source: Compete quarterly smartphone report, Jan 2010

miscellaneous downtime... 80% use mobile during

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderdawg777/662293238Source: Compete quarterly smartphone report, Jan 2010

in line or for an appointment... 80% use mobile while waiting

but the device and the contextno longer go hand-in-hand

mobile is increasingly being combined with longer or completely ‘non-mobile’ activities...

62% use mobile while watching TV

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcmom/375125992Source: Compete quarterly smartphone report, Jan 2010

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lollaping/3327541574Source: Compete quarterly smartphone report, Jan 2010

point of sale research 69% use mobile for

while shopping

sometimes visit a site on mobile

...and follow up on the PC

59%

Source: Yahoo mobile shopping framework study

to time-shift and mobile is also used

visit a site on the PC

and follow-up on mobile

34%

Source: Yahoo mobile shopping framework study

Source: The mobile movement study, Google

16%Research on smartphone,then visit store to check product out, then buy on smartphone.

Research on smartphone,then visit store to check product out, then buy on PC.

23%

Research on smartphone,then buy in store.67%

9% Visit store, then buyon smartphone.

and so on...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_PA-46

“The most expensive item sold via eBay’s mobile app was a 1985 Piper PA-46-310P Malibu airplane for $265,000.“ src: Mashable

of larger tasks ...facilitating completion

http://www.flickr.com/photos/plagevinilosyadhesivosdecorativos/5549366513

and important life decisions...

“The largest purchase on the M&S mobile web site last Christmas was two sofas costing over £3000 ($5000)“ src: Marketing Week

With current growth rates, Web access by peopleon the move—via laptops and smart mobile devices— is likely to exceed web access from desktop computers within the next five years.“

...or by 2015 - Source: ITU vis mobiThinking http://www.flickr.com/photos/whiteafrican/2938685296

so while this is (still) ‘mobile’...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oimax/3800475934

limited aention

tedious input

simple?

distractions

public space

glanceable?

personal

one hand

it’s now also this...full-sized keyboard

comfy chair

focused user

work surface

environment

privacy

unlimited data

reliable power source

reliable network

http://www.flickr.com/photos/othree/5224045406

comfy chair

focused user

privacy

unlimited wi"?

reliable power source?

reliable network?

1hr train ride

and this...

two hands

comfy chair

prone to interruptions

privacy

reliable power source

and maybe some of this?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/2359224681

one hand

gravity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mujitra/4571580931

your bandwidth...

your type of device...

your location...

it’s not just about...

your intent...

being mobile

how long you’ve be there

http://www.flickr.com/photos/frenkieb/1449664622

constraints

opportunities

features

reach

expectations

responsibility

magic?

accessibility

familiarity

in our new reality...

mental models

the many ingredients it’s just one of

http://www.flickr.com/photos/basheertome/5557362895

and hopefully a new way of thinking

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/2121472112

maybe what has been actual is actually...not normal

and a great many other things

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amagill/26273015

...our mental models around ‘mobile’

(and the web)

1980 1984 1990 1994 1998 2004 2007 2011

512640

800

1024

1280

1440

1024 x 768512 x 342

240

320 x 480

display size/width

historical accident... are a mere

240 x 320

1980 1984 1990 1994 1998 2004 2007 2011 2015

640800

10241280

1440

1920

3200

display size/width

1024 x 768

public displays

240

768 x 1024

600 x 10241920 x 1080

????

????

and will continue to shift

new cultural norms

creating

“Sir, we’ll be landing soon. Could you please shut off your book?”- Flight attendant, April 2011

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ubo_pakes/4472188820

what was familiar to some... until very soon

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattedgar/3724116027

to others

will be unrecognisablepico-projector

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0YVb3x2Amc

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tocaboca/5523598823

“For kids like my 13 year-old, the boundaries between the internet and life are so porous as to be meaningless.“ Comment on the Guardian web site

thank you

hello@yiibu.com

http://slidesha.re/dURaVL

Part 2 of The trouble with contextcan be found in Beyond the mobile web(starting on slide 62)

http://www.slideshare.net/yiibu