Comments on: Mobile Phones and Usability

By: Daniel Escasa

Daniel Escasa — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:21:21 +0000

Update: I tried it with an identical Nokia, and it worked. Haven’t tried sending a calendar entry via SMS, because I’m too cheap to do it just for testing :)

As an aside, I did manage to IR both ways between my Visor and my old Siemens. So I think it fair to blame the Nokia :)

By: Daniel Escasa

Daniel Escasa — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 17:07:10 +0000

I think it has more to do with my familiarity with the Siemens interface — specifically, the functions of the keys in SMS entry. For instance, Siemens assigns Backspace to the left soft-menu key. In my Nokia, it’s the right soft-menu key. Space is ‘1′ on the Siemens, ‘0′ on the Nokia. I still get confused now and then, and have sent an incomplete message as a result. Figure out how I did that :)

But I digressed, and you followed. We were talking about our respective uses of the functions, yes? In my case, I’d like to think I use almost all of them :) I haven’t tried sending a Calendar entry by SMS though. I did try IR’ing it to my PDA, and it didn’t come in >:(

By: jangelo

jangelo — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 18:36:29 +0000

Danny, perhaps it’s because you’re a techie that Nokias don’t appeal to you well. I’ve been using Siemens 45-series phones for the longest time (for about five years, too). First the ME45, then another ME45, then I hacked the newer ME45 with the S45i firmware, then I got myself an old S45 w/c I also hacked with the “i” firmware, plus a handful of patches (shortuts, enhancements and UI changes galore).

During that time I’ve had my share of SonyEricssons and Nokias, but I found myself going back to my Siemens because of the interface that I loved so much (and that non-techies could never appreciate).

My S45 finally broke down on me a few months back and I got myself a Microsoft-based “Smart” phone (”Microsoft” and “smart” don’t usually get a long well in a single phrase).

By: Daniel Escasa

Daniel Escasa — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 11:07:33 +0000

My phones, in chronological order: a Nokia 2010, then a Motorola StarTAC, a Siemens M35i, and a Siemens ME45. A few weeks ago, I “inherited” a Nokia 6108 from my niece. I used the M35i for about three months, and the ME45 for five years. I *hated* the Motorola software, mainly because it wouldn’t display the name of the sender of an incoming text message. Also, I couldn’t reply to a text message — there was no Reply option, d’uh! — instead, I had to write down the sender’s number, then compose a text message and *manually* type in that number. That’s why I found it easier to place a voice call than reply with a test. I could never get myself to even tolerate that UI. That was a late 90s model, and I understand that their newer phones have more rational interfaces.

The Siemens handsets, on the other hand, had *much* smoother interfaces. And, of course, so does the Nokia. I can’t say which is the winner because there are UI elements I like from one that are not in the other. As to keypad layout, I’m still trying to get used to the Nokia’s vs the Siemens’s — and in case you’re wondering, it’s the non-alpha keys when I’m doing SMS that are different. For instance, the key to cycle through the T9 choices is the upper right in the Siemens but the bottom left on the Nokia. The punctuation marks and the space key on the Siemens are shared with the ‘1′ key, and on the Nokia, I get them by *holding down* the bottom left key — with the exception of the space, which is the bottom middle. Which is better? The one I’m used to :), and I’m not sure I’ll ever *really* get used to Nokia’s.

By: BDB

BDB — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 14:05:56 +0000

For many of us, regardless of intellect in gadgetry, there are only two important usability features in mobile phones…

1) Phone rings, I answer (or ignore, as the case may be).

2) I make a call, they answer (or ignore).

All the bells and whistles (once you find them, or more importantly, figure out how to get around them) are sometimes cute and maybe even fun… for about 5 minutes. Then it’s back to business as usual.

It seems inevitable that phones will continue to have more knobs to tweak than the Houston Space Center, but when all is said and done, these basic features must remain simple, or it’s pointless as a phone.

By: Brody

Brody — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 13:55:13 +0000

From what I’ve experienced Nokia appears to always be the cheapest. The majority of the time when a phone is offered free it’s a Nokia, so maybe that’s why it’s so highly preferred.

By: Marco (Griffith) Jardim

Marco (Griffith) Jardim — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 09:17:32 +0000

I happen to have experienced this not too long ago.

On my mother’s birthday, I gave her my former Nokia, which has two methods of presenting the interface, by grid, or by list, just as you mention above.

When she saw the grid interface, her first reaction was: “This is too complicated for me”. But, as soon as I changed it to a list she started saying: “Oh! Now it’s almost the same as my old Nokia”.

I currently own a Sony-Ericsson k750i.