Some Ideas on the Mobile Keypad

Mobile Keypad

Obviously, we all use our phones in a different way than a keyboard or a typewriter, so I often wonder why we use the QWERTY setup. Typing taught to us at younger ages involved correct posture, proper hand position and no peeking at the keys. These tenets simply no longer matter on handheld devices.

What this means is that there seems to be little need for these 20th century conventions on our mobile phones - other than the familiarity makes us feel good. Now, in fairness, there are some mobile experiences (E.g. larger tablets) where users may actually be able to type old school style. It is for this reason, that I would think that QWERTY conventions should still be kept alive through users settings and options.

However, given the obvious usability issues on mobile devices, there is probably some room for improvement. I propose ideas on a number of fronts.

Give the keys size priority based on how often they are used

Let's see if we can break the QWERTY convention. The old convention seems less useful for people typing with their thumbs as I assume most of us will be looking at the keypad. I'm sure there are reasons for the QWERTY layout (which I haven't really researched) on a typewriter - key proximity etc. that could probably be considered and translated to a new convention. The MOBILE convention.

My redesign is simply a proposal to enhance usability. The most commonly used keys are given priority in terms of size. This will reduce typos. They have also been moved to the 'thumb hotzones'. While letters like 'Q' and 'X' have been moved to the 'thumb deadzones'.

Contextually enable/disable

Contextually enable and disable invalid key combinations. For example if you type a 'Q' most of the the keys on the keypad would be disabled as invalid key combinations.

Keys inactive depending on context. Note- darkening probably would not be this obvious as the flashing would be very distracting as you type.(or maybe small dashes appear on the keys - something too subtle for a static pic)

Settings

Make these keyboard layouts a selectable setting. Give the users what they want and allow them to use the devices how they want to.

For example, if a hipster wanted to type 'rotfl' or 'lmao' they would turn off the contextual keyboard setting. If a user was using their device for business purposes they would probably want it enabled.

Settings could look like this

• Slang
• Business
• Business Contextual
• QWERTY
• QWERTY Contextual

Swipe Punctuation/The Punctuation Key

Let's consider what I've named 'swipe puncuation'. Let's get rid of the period, question mark and comma. Maybe we could break our messaging into 'sentence containers' when you finish a sentence swipe the punctuation key right for a question and left for a statement (down for a comma) on the 'punctuation key'. This would allow us to make some of the keys even bigger because we could reduce the key set by 2.

Coming Soon

Augmented Reality ptIII....

App Idea: LocalNation: Consolidating Community Communication

 

This is an idea from a while back, I s'pose most of what is here could be achieved using existing social/broadcasting apps IF we could somehow get towns and cities to effectively streamline and share their information across agencies.

Loclnation is inspired by the idea that people at local levels around the world have the need to share information more effectively. While some of this 'local information' is available through a variety of sources, some of it is not. Loclnation will 'aggregate' all of a user's local info into one app. The app will update automatically which will prevent the user from having to check multiple sources to get their local news and information.

Some of this information is also on local websites and bulletin boards but, again, the user, in almost all cases would need to check multiple sources. The app is free and easy to use which lowers its barrier to adoption.

Loclnation looks to inspire people to use technology to communicate and revolutionize the way they interact with one another.

The main thrust of the idea centers on a mobile framework that users can upload content to. The content is then relayed to the front end app/reader.

The Mobile App

The mobile app is downloaded for free, like many other apps. A user either enters their current zip code to retrieve data or the device's geo location will be used.

• It is available on both iOS and Android
• It is/has portrait mode only
• It auto updates
• When updates are present the app indicates this

New updates are always organized to the top of categories (bulletin board) and announcements that have already been viewed are grayed out.

The Framework

At its core it is a base mobile framework to which users can add content pertinent to their locale. It will be built and deployed in a number of tiers, Base, I and II. These tiers represent different levels of monetization and may possible represent phases of implementation.

Base

• Police
•   Fire
•  Announcements
• Town/City Business
• Schools
• Churches

Once a town or city adopts the framework they will be encouraged to 'advertise' it. This can be easily achieved by posting on town websites, bulletin boards and/or sending home announcements with school children. Sample announcements will be provided to the Towns to be used as a guideline.

The base framework only allows for text based posting (ala twitter) and is limited to 200 characters per post/announcement.

Posts can be flagged as sticky (permanent) or they can be time based. They can also be scheduled, either in the future or to recurr.

The town framework will be great for sharing information with the community, such as:

• Weather Alerts
• Church Bbqs
• Health Advisories
• School Cancellations
• School Sports

etc.

A pivotal advantage of adopting this framework is that it is a local aggregator for news and events. By having it in a mobile app these announcements are delivered instantly to the clients. User will no longer have to go searching for this info in  multiple places. It will be delivered to their mobile device automatically and they will be alerted that there is an update present.

Tier 1

Tier one will be a both a free and a paid tier where local businesses can advertise. By adopting the framework a town will ensure that there are many local residents using and viewing the app.

For free, the adevertisers can post a classifed of sorts but will be will limited to 100 characters, 3 days maximum posting and they cannot schedule any announcements. (Note free postings never shuffled to the top of the list when an update occurs, they only shuffle to the top of the free section)

 Advertisers that pay $1 per day to list a special event will enjoy more benefits including scheduling, and up to 500 characters including a headline. This is mostly a different service then what is being offered in other outlets. Things to be advertised here would be:

•  Live Music (when and who)
•  Garage Sales
• Bake Sales

This low cost advertising would be very attractive to local residents who don't want to go through the hassle of creating advertisements or maybe want to promote something cheaply at the last minute.

Both the free and Paid Teir 1 framework(s) only allows for text based posting (ala twitter). It would seem roughly like classifieds to the user.

Tier 2

The Tier 2 framework is also a payed tier. It will be used mainly like by local publishers, free town circulars etc. Many of these local publishers do not have mobile apps or access to creating them. By using the loclnation framework they will easily enter into the mobile sector and be able to generate a profit.

• Tier 2 is a subscription ($99 - $149 per month) to the full suite of online tools, this will allow publishers to post entire editions of their publications as native mobile apps.
•  User can also upload ads which will periodically appear at the bottom of stories.
• Users can also flag certain ads as 'feature' ads. These are basically the equivalent of full page ads and take over the whole screen when a user taps on a story.

By selling the additional ad space in the mobile app to their existing clients the cost of the monthly subscription will more than pay for itself.

Having Schools and town news in the app ensures a local audience for the publishers.

Further, printed papers are going away. Many local publishers have been slow to realize this. As the shift to electronic/mobile medium continues, these local publishers will have more and more users online, this will eventually allow them print fewer papers. The result will be thousands in savings on printing costs to each publication.

Loclnation will allow these small publishers to have a professional, monetized presence in the mobile sector.

Using the Framework

The framework will be simple to use.

To publish to the mobile app users will be supplied with a suite of online tools. These tools will include areas to cut and paste text and add photos.

Once the user adds text and photos (if supported) to a story they can then assign a category in which the story/announcement will appear.

 

Ice-King: Iceless Cooler System

Introduction

A modernization of the age old ‘camping style’ food and beverage storage cooler. The Ice-King is a storage device that needs no ice cubes and can be partitioned off resulting in differing configurations. It is great for camping or weekend getaways.

The idea for the Ice-king cube-less cooler system is based on the fact that consumers want more flexibility out of their storage coolers and more options to configure it for maximum storage usage.

Generally, when stored for a period of days, cheese, bread and other foods become soggy and mushy after floating in the cool water from the melted ice.

Ice-King offers solutions to many of these problems.

Overview

The Ice-King cube-less cooler system is a revolution of conventional storage coolers and offers the consumer several different options when it comes to food and beverage storage.

The system is primarily based around re-freezable, gel-filled, pre-formed plastic inserts that fit into special ‘tracks’ mounted in the cooler. In addition to its’ cooling benefits, the center insert can also serve as a partition to bisect the cooler’s storage compartment. This allows the user to utilize one side for food storage (using the cube-less system) while using the other side for traditional ‘iced down’ beverage storage. An additional option for the consumer would be to completely remove the inserts and use the cooler in a more conventional way.

Special grates (Dry Grates) fit into the bottom of the cooler and keep food out of the melted ice thereby helping to preserve freshness.

When freezing the inserts they are simply folded up and stacked into a home freezer thereby occupying the smallest amount of space possible.

Additionally, the Ice-King system comes with pre-formed plastic storage containers that are also filled with a re-freezable gel. This additional method of cooling and storage will help keep food it’s coldest without the consumer having to resort to the use of ice cubes.

The containers are designed to be stacked one inside of the other while freezing in order to also use smallest amount of freezer space possible.

Marketing/Price Point

The system will be marketed in sizes (small, medium, large) which result in different prices depending on the consumers desire/ability to store the inserts for freezing and the amount of money they want to spend on the system.

Small- small cooler, inserts, dry grates, some food storage containers

Medium- medium cooler, inserts, dry grates, more food storage containers

King- large cooler, inserts, dry grates, many food storage containers

Augmenting History: Riffing on Augmented Reality

A user could stand outside of Ford's theater hold up his phone and see where and how history happened.

I was recently inspired by Tomi Ahonen's presentation on Augmented Reality  that I came across on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvyfHuKZGXU

I thought he made some salient points on AR - how it is the 8th Mass Media and how it may affect our lives in the next 5 to 10 years. It inspired me to start thinking of some of the potential applications of this new and emerging technology and this is one of those ideas.

This will be the first of a 3 part series riffing on AR where I will also explore some ideas on how to monetize it.

 

Augmenting History

 

 Want to walk the same path John Wilkes Booth did as he ascended to the Presidential Box in Ford's theater? Or how about stand in the same spot that Abraham Zapruder did on November 22, 1963?

It seems to me we could leverage the emerging AR technology to really make for richer and more immersive tourist interactions at places of historical significance and, to a lesser degree, locations of general interest.

When a user visits a landmark they would have the option of loading a data-set related to the history associated with that area. These data-sets would include the major players that are historically linked to the event or place, how they got there, the paths they walked etc. - as well as plenty of drill-down info to make for a rich, immersive AR experience.

It would take alot of data to prime the pump and get something like this up and running. ALOT of data. So, in order to help achieve a critical mass, in terms of data entry, the paradigm would be broken into two data tiers; Open Source and Premium. The open source data-sets would be contributed by the public and policed and organized by a peer rating system (think yelp/Wikipedia) while the Premium data-sets would be constructed by historians or other professionals and vetted.

Creating the open source data-sets could involve some sort of web-based or mobile client that allows users to enter GPS coordinates and/or even draw paths on the terrain - the way some of these jogging and running sites do.

The User Experience

 

A user can trace the path of Lincoln or Booth through Ford's theater

The user would visit a landmark or historical area and use their mobile device to view the additional historical data. They would also have the ability to load the data-set they desired and filter different data depending on what they wanted to see on their screen.

A user scans Dealey Plaza with their mobile device using the November 22, 1963 dataset.

It is plausible that there may be hundreds of data-sets for the more popular tourist attractions and users will have the ability to sort through what is available based on a data-set's rating or they may opt for the higher quality, more comprehensive premium data-set.

Part 1 of 3, to be continued...

Mobile Digititis

Stardate: Sometime in the future.

A man walks into an old folks home to visit his Father who has been a resident there for the past few years. Upon entering the 'Recreation Area' he sees a number of elderly people. Some are in wheelchairs, some in walkers and others are seated on various chairs and sofas. To a resident, almost all of them are looking at the palms of their hands and or making gestures with them. The man asks a nurse, "What is it they are doing? What do they think is wrong with their hands?" The nurse replies, "Oh, they don't think anything is wrong with them. They just all still think they are holding cell phones and texting their friends. A few decades ago everyone carried these devices all the time. Their brains are impulsively telling their bodies that they still are holding their phones since it was such a huge part of their lives."