Tom's talk on designing efficient mobile user experiences for low bandwidth / poor connectivity situations, as encountered in the transport sector.

1. - Efficient UX Techniques for
an Age of Network Austerity
Tom Godber
May 2011

2. What Do I Do?
mass market
mobile
=
transport ticketing
solutions

3. Agenda
Pick a Good Problem
Plan for Real World Networks
App File Sizes
Metaphors and Complexity

4. Mobile is a tool
=
A small part of a wider world

5. No mobile ‘manifest destiny’

6. No mobile ‘manifest destiny’
Pick the right problem
Address real user needs
Perform better than the alternatives
(on and off the user’s handset)

7. "Capturing the first 40%"
Transport will be a key driver of early
mCommerce adoption

8. 1.3bn tickets/yr
70% of tickets bought at station

9. Purchase tickets with phone
Eliminate paper – go straight onto train

10. Pick a Good Problem
Plan for Real World Networks
App File Sizes
Metaphors and Complexity

11. Front page:
412Kb
Full web site:
Purchase requires 8 pages,
> 100 connections

12. Front page:
3Kb
Mobile web site:
Purchase requires 10+ pages
...and then a phone call!

13. App:
Purchase with 2 net connections < 1Kb

14. Why does that matter?

15. Off the Beaten Path
Usage Scenarios

16. Usage Scenarios
Busy Stations

17. Usage Scenarios
Moving Vehicles

18. Dwell Time
Usage Scenarios

19. Pick a Good Problem
Plan for Real World Networks
App File Sizes
Metaphors and Complexity

20. Capture Points
In the Queue App Stores

21. 80%
70%
> 5 mins at peak
60%
> 3 mins off-peak
> 3 mins at weekends
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Convert customers at pain point

22. App download size matters
<5 mins to capture sale

23. Pick a Good Problem
Plan for Real World Networks
App File Sizes
Metaphors and Complexity

24. UK Rail Industry Structure
John Major’s Legacy...

25. Complexity Problem
UK has more fares combinations than people
...all pretty inaccessible to the layman

26. Presenting a timetable is ‘easy’

27. Standard phone UI components
can be used intuitively
- minimal graphics size overhead

28. Matching trains and fares is harder...
...but this is where the money is
Leverage iOS ‘spinner’ concept

29. That’s great
for iPhone

30. What about everyone else?
(>90% of population)

31. JavaME (BlackBerry, Nokia etc)
Like pulling a paper timetable behind a window

32. Android has a less uniform, recognizable style
Eg. for:
Spinner-style selections
Multi-step workflow in one app

33. ‘Building the ticket’
Ticket-like visual elements
‘accumulate’ during workflow
Footer rounded off after purchase > real ticket

34. Train / Fare selection more like JavaME
Texture encourages interaction

36. Tom Godber
tom@masabi.com
Photo credit: Timo Arnall, Einar Sneve Martinussen and Jørn Knutsen -
http://yourban.no/2011/02/22/immaterials-light-painting-wifi/)