A mobile UX manifesto delivered by Razorfish's Senior Information Architect Kyle Outlaw at the 2009 Think Mobile Conference in New York.

2. Mobile Clients : Adidas, AOL, Audi, Axe, Best Buy, Carnival Cruiseline, Citi,
Dow Jones, eBay, Godiva, JC Penney, Nike, Ralph Lauren, Visa, XM Radio
and others
Platforms: Mobile web, iPhone OS, Android
Razorfish + Mobile
Photo by DJ-Nike on Flickr

3. prologue

4. For the past several years our clients in Europe
and Asia have been embracing mobile….

5. Europe - Adidas

6. Europe - AXE

7. Asia - Nike

8. But in the U.S. there wasn’t much demand for
mobile, until….

9. Photo by Vedia on Flickr

10. All of a sudden, clients are interested in mobile
(particularly iPhone) and are beginning to ask us a
lot of (the same) questions…

11. … so here are 5 principles to address the
questions that clients are asking us.

12. 5 principles
For mobile UX

14. Principle no. 1 – Get your hands dirty

15.  Invest in innovation
 Build skills, learn by doing
 Ideally give money, or time
 Freedom to fail
 Share knowledge, archive experiments
Principle no. 1 – Get your hands dirty

17. Principle no. 2 – Choose your platform carefully

18.  Know the target audience: what phones, OS, carriers customers are using
 Device agnostic or native application (or hybrid)?
 iPhone is probably the best bang for the buck (stability, exposure in iTunes)
Principle no. 2 – Choose your platform carefully

19. Sometimes mobile web makes more sense…

21. Principle no. 3 – Embrace “mo-jile”
Photo source: w3.org

22.  Agile development seems particularly suited for mobile.
 Cross-functional disciplines (creative, ux, tech)
 Control of feature set
 Rapid development process
 Test early and often
 Hybrid process – “mo-jile”?
-
Principle no. 3 – Embrace “mo-jile”

23. A hybrid agile approach for mobile ux
• High-Level
Functionality
• Contract
• ProductBrief
• Prioritized Features
/Functions
• High-level App
Architecture & Roadmap
• Prototype (key
functionality)
• Businessrules
• Visual styleguide
• Visual comps
• Wireframes
• Task flow diagrams
• Code production
• Supporting
infrastructure Set-Up
• Rapid User Testing
• Release
SOW > Visioning Phase >
Agile Build Phase
Sprint1 > Sprint2 > Sprint3 > Sprint4 >

24. Core team snapshotFA
• Supports Management of
the Backlog
• Explains functionality
between the prototype
and the real site
• Attends both the Tech and
UX scrums
PM
• Ensures alignment with
business objectives and
throughout process
• Keeps project on track
(timing and budget)
Developer
• Building the prototype
into a real site
• Bug fix of the real site
• Launch Support
Designer
• Partnering with UX to
fulfill the early
development of comps,
wireframes and copy
decks that enable
prototype development
Experience
• Creates a draft of stories
for the planning meeting
• Creates work flow through
prototype
• Leads Consumer Testing
ContentandCopy
• Validates that evolution of
the prototype can be
supported from a content
feed perspective.

26. v v v
Principle no. 4 – Sweat the details

27.  Don’t throw out the standard experience deliverables just yet
 Application architecture diagram, wireframes, task flows, feature matrix
 Gestural methods, sound, microphone, camera, accelerometer
 UX suddenly got a lot more complicated
-
Principle no. 4 – Sweat the details

28. Principle no. 4 – Sweat the details

29. Principle no. 4 – Sweat the details

31. Principle no. 5 – Be Unique

32.  Difficult to stand out from the crowd
 Take risks
 Push the envelope technologically
 Focus only on core features (strengths)
-
Principle no. 5 – Be Unique

33. Principle no. 5 – Be Unique

34. Principle no. 5 – Be Unique

35. Principle no. 5 – Be Unique

36. Principle no. 5 – Be Unique

37. Principle no. 5 – Be Unique

38. Principle no. 5 – Be Unique

39. 1. Get your hands dirty
2. Choose your platform carefully
3. Embrace “mo-jile”
4. Sweat the details
5. Be unique
Rinse + repeat
5 principles recap

40. epilogue

41. The iPhone has set a new benchmark for user
experience
Photo by duncandavidson on Flickr

42. But is it just the tip of the iceberg?
Photo source: Slashgear.com

43. Augmented reality was available first on Android…
Photo Source: Mobilizy.com

44. Advanced telecommunications services on iPhone
have been problematic…
Photo source: Techcrunch.com

45. PCs and Phones continue to converge

46. New devices and platforms bring enormous
possibilities coupled with potentially huge
usability headaches.

47. Welcome to the golden age of mobile usability…

48. e: kyle.outlaw@razorfish.com
t: @koutlaw