Small Surfaces

Small Surfaces is a site dedicated to mobile user interface design. It contains links to sites all over the internet which talk about designing interactive applications and interfaces for mobile devices.

This first link talks about how people like to fiddle with their mobile devices. Whether it be productive, or simply for the fun of it, people are always fiddling with the settings on their mobile phones. The article suggests having two user interfaces on the phone, one for serious, productive functions, and another for playing around with. Why not go the whole way and have a fully customisable operating system on mobile phones, with user defined controls, the ultimate in fiddling.

This essay is about mobile television, and the circumstances under which people will use it. The most interesting part is the ten points towards the end. It is surprising in many ways, for example it says that people using their mobile phones around the home make up a large portion of mobile TV viewers. This is because mobile technology affords a certain amount of control, 'micro control', as to where and how the user can enjoy the experience. This creates a very personal scenario in which the user is fully in charge of whatever they are doing.