Mapping the experience

Originally uploaded by Dushaun

It is fascinating how there is a difference in the response of people who want to use and people who want to "move" the iPhone

The consumer experience can be mapped against Maslow in a similar way to this. The developer needs to map how he/she wants to enhance the experience for the consumer and so is a user too, but of modus operandi of the iPhone.

So we can get 2 responses that are both, in their way right. In the Daily Telegraph, 12/7/07 Claudine Beaumont writes in iMad about the iPhone

"The iPhone is a byword for simplicity and intuitiveness, with uncluttered menus and ease of use. Motorola, take note.

One of the iPhone's most impressive features is the Safari browser, which offers all the benefits of the desktop version, optimised for handheld use. The touchscreen technology that allows you to zoom into a story or image is excellent, magnifying and rendering pages with pin-sharp perfection. ........

While it lacks the GPS functionality of, say, Nokia's N95, the iPhone does have Google Maps. As a music player, it provides the same accessible interface we've come to expect from the iPod. CoverFlow, which allows you to flick through album art by running your finger across the screen, looks great on this device, and because the iPhone syncs with iTunes, transferring your playlists is a cinch.....

What really lets the iPhone down (apart from its lack of 3G) is the stingy 2MP camera, which just about suffices in perfect conditions but is otherwise poor. As a photo viewer, though, the iPhone excels, and you can use your fingers to "pinch" images and zoom in and out, flipping the handset to view them in landscape or portrait.

Call quality is very good, comparable to many of the other mobiles we've tested at The Digital Life.

It's the little touches that really make the iPhone stand out from the crowd - the solid feel, the sleek styling, the neat use of animated icons - which manage to convey a lightness of touch and an attention to detail."

And Claudine Beaumont ends with

"But our verdict? Don't get one yet - wait for the second-generation iPhone, which should feature an improved camera, 3G support and, fingers crossed, instant messaging. The iPhone can only get better."

We can contrast that article with the blog from Artur Bergman at O'Reilly Radar in iPhoneDevCamp

What was evident at this past weekend's iPhoneDevCamp, was the sheer energy displayed by the close to 400 attendees. Organised by Raven Zachary -- one of the authors of O'Reilly's iPhone hacks -- and Chris Messina, it was hosted in Adobe's plush San Francisco office. Sitting at rows of desks were developers and designers gathering together to overcome the limitations of the iPhone.

.........

The Apple developer documentation site has a promise of an ability for your web app to integrate with the iPhone. Or rather, it documents the brave invention of the "mailto:" URI scheme and the promise of a broken implementation of the 7 year old RFC 2806 spec of the "tel:" scheme . Most offensive is, however, Apple's claim to integrate with Google Maps, which means Safari intercepts requests to "http://maps.google.com/" and sends them to the Google Maps application. No other high-end phone manufacturer even comes close to this level of arrogance.

So we have one (user view) that says "it does it", and another view that says "it pretends to do it!"

Now as we know from the Wizard of Oz story the consumer (Dorothy et al) believed in the Wizard at the Castle even though it was really only a human like themselves.

"I am Oz, the great and terrible," said the little man, in a trembling voice. "But don't strike me-please don't- and I'll do anything you want me to"

The point being that from Claudine, the consumer's, point of view iPhone has Google Maps; from Artur's pov it is a con. But in the short term as long as Claudine is happy then 'perception is reality'. In the future the screen may fall down in a way that the consumer feels the experience isn't good enough then Oz will be exposed. Bill Buxton introduced this metaphor to me.. it is in his book starting p.238.

So it took 3 years for the iPod to be an overnight success so we'll see how many it takes iPhone.... and what is success? and for whom? Claudine of course, which may mean Artur has to be happy too!

This is why Maslow's needs hierarchy turned into a Design Pyramid shown here. The tools to create applications can be said to be a technology issue, one of the enablers for improving the consumer experience.. by closing the gap between actual and expected; and between latent needs and solution paths and schemes driven by Insights. Design Space talks of opportunities and constraints which also opens up the range of possibilites to explore and with Design Pyramid facilitates a Design Journey to winning products, services and experiences.