Something big is cooking and you'll be seeing it live from the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Boston if you're lucky enough to be there. At the recent Content Days in Australia, I had the pleasure of showing off a brand new product that put a fresh face to collaboration. It was mentioned in the press more than a few times, especially KMWorld. The crowd was awed by the novel concept of collaborating via streams of information, grouped together by the teams communications such as email, blog posts, documents and wikis. Completely browser based, these conversations and status updates happen in real time as threads of discussions weave seamlessly in this new paradigm of collaboration. So what was this new magical product? Google Wave, you say? No, in fact, it was our about to launch OpenText social media initiative aimed at making enterprises bloom. Imitation is the highest form of flattery we suppose. See for yourself at http://wave.google.com/. Open Text Social Media will be generally available in July, 2009. To learn more, go to: http://cli.gs/OTSocialMedia

Oh baby, just where do I start with this one. In it's infinite wisdom, Sydney mass transit (known as the RTA) has decided to begin replacing IMHO the already effective train station displays. Here are the new ones:

Let's breakdown the ways in which this active signage is confusing.

1. Primarily, instead of the previous congruous interface on one screen - two screens are now provided, yet the interface is divided. This immediately separates the information uneccessarily. confusion around what the purpose of each display is immediate, especially for existing commuters who are accsutomed to the single screen, single interface of yore. The real estate of the prior single plasma panel is probably 75% of this combined two screen format. This could unfortunately be an example of the classic management mistake of a) having the requirement to expand the visible area (the new 25% provided by 2 smaller screens combined) yet b) realising that the software to run the screens cannot merge the information into 1 display or otherwise remove the vertical separator that divides the displays. This may be the inital culrpit behind why usability was lost, very early on in this civic projecte.
2. Eye tracking will show that the most prominent and inital hot spot is actuall the "Following Trains" which look like embossed buttons on top of a contrasting blue display. This is unfortunate for someone who didn't bother to look back up and to the right for the "Next Train" which is camouflagued amongst a wash of white in the right scrolling monitor. Incidentally, I assume the business requirement here was to provide "more information about following trains;" something which was not availible in the prior interface. So, what should have become a benefit, implemented incorrectly, now is a distraction to the single most important use case: "When is the next darn train?" I can almost imagine a designer reflecting that the right screen should be used to replicate the original display (from an information architecture perspective, it does) and simply using the left panel to display otherwise new and auxilliary information. This approach fails to appreciate overall analysis of the combined result, while trying to correctly minimise changes to existing commuters.
3. In fact, the effect power of borders and box shapes even creates an area of more attention towards the blue box for "8 cars" than the time of the next train. Now let me  ask you as a commuter, how many times have you really cared about the exact number of cars on a given train, or how often this actually factored into a decision about your travel? I can honestly answer never for me - perhaps more important for the staff or authorities on patrol.

We'll look in our next blog post on how I would have redesigned this interface for greater usability.

We have yet to be offered a true contender for a highly consumer-friendly MP3 Phone. Apple needs to do this. And they need to get on this one... now. I'm really disappointed that Motorolla beat them to the punch with the V3 RAZR.  Playing MP3's on your phone old hat? Absolutely, Motorolla's V3 RAZR is not new, but it combines an already market-proven phone with a convergence idea that is golden. It trumps Cingular's play with iTunes, since its not iTunes that's going to sell cell phones. iTunes didn't sell me, or anyone, on the iPod at the first glimpse. Sarcastic voice, fist-shaking: "It's the design and interface of the product you fools!" The marketing, people, the product marketing... not tech. Someone please tell Microsoft that in regards to their magic WiFi bullet. I swear to god, the white earbuds have done more for capturing initial audiences than any other feature of the iPod, as it is immeidately recognizable. It's the Bently logo on your MP3 player's hood. Will the V3 dominate? I'm not certain that 1 commercial of a dude on a treadmill is going to rock the USA. Trendsetting consumers don't pay attention to cell phone commercials, becuase, well, they come off like car commercials, and we're all trained by the age of 3 to completely ignore those on a subconsious level. We do live in America, right? What makes people buy consumer electronics? By and far, things that are adopted by the uppoer crust as having adequate cool factor. Edit: Schomer raises a good comment about iTunes solid synchronizing capabilities having sold him on the sexy iPod (two points for alliteration?). Granted that this is a good thing, I think this more or less fulfills a customer's expectation more than exceeding one. I think grandpa would expect the synchronizing feature to work seamlessly, it's just such a fundamental requirement to any nontechnical person who can't appreciate the engineering feat. I think Apple did however exceed everyone's expectations on making MP3 player's and other tech paraphernalia sexy, which is critical for consumer products. I guess the real question is to counter Schomer's point, would the iPod have taken control of the market to the extent it has if it had iTunes, but had as lackluster an appearance and usability as an iRiver? I couldn't disagree more Market Trendsetting There's something to be said about convergence and the market forces... I know it's not as big a deal to most middle-Americans who can stuff several items in their pockets if only for the morning and afternoon walk down the driveway to their car. But for urbanites on the move, the thought of being able to haul around one less piece of techmass in their suit pants on the subway is priceless. Elitest, yes, but priceless. ;)  And we know from the cultutal dynamics of capitalist nations that the elite trends are often mimicked by the masses.

So, where are the problems for the V3? Not having a true competitor, I think the V3 will continue the bestselling trend of the RAZR. But the tipping point question is:

Is Motorolla really monetizing convergence as much as an Apple inspired iPhone would?

In this case, the consumer benefits more than the corporation, in the long run. Only Apple has the potential to benefit from convergence to such an extent to build synergies with music ordering, as V CAST is a joke compared to iTunes. I don't think there's any customer loyalty being built from a lifestyle standpoint. If someone comes out with a smaller, sexier phone and a challenging cell provider has equivalent support, I don't see a compelling reason why the elite will stick with the provider (assuming that cell phone coverage becomes a commodity over time, which it will. Go to Europe for proof, this is is not a long term competitive advantage.)

Grand Unified Lifestyle Theory

Now, on the other hand, if you tie in the lifestyle choices, the marriage to iTunes for your pod-casts, music, etc. you create glue. You stick the consumer to your service because there is a value add outside of the hardware itself. Obviously, this is highly dependant on what Apple can bring to the table in terms of an integrated electronic lifestyle. Given that it's common for consumers to not have a ShackleBerry, the lack of Office features on a mass consumer phone developed by Apple is not troubling. I'm of the faith that there will always be a divide between work and play computers, evidenced by console gaming vs. business machines.

Can Microsoft compete in this space? Sure, they can provide competitive forces, but given their recent track record of failing (read: Microsoft Live) all they will do is keep Apple on it's toes, perfecting their existing model, while Microsoft realizes they still operate like a enterprise software vendor. Untill Microsoft develops core values that recognize (and actually cater to ) the consumer mind, I think they're SOL.

I think what's more intriguing is the long term prospect of adopting a more (gasp) Web 2.0 mindset when developing consumer products. No, I don't think WiFi is here yet, we need better data plans in the US. But the prospect of incorporating aspects of iLife and iTunes on your cell phone are promising. I think if Apple can leverage this trend by realizing that they cannot limit to iLife, but instead should work this angle to leverge best of breed web applications, much in the same way Vox has (shameless plug!)

Why not  have Flickr house your cell phone wallpapers? Why not have your cell phone photos immediately sent to Flickr instead of sitting on your phone memory? Why not support mobile photo/video blogging (really support it, that is)?

Failure to Launch

As far as failing to move on the iPhone, who knows why. I do know that it's unfortunate that Apple didn't partner with Motorolla... just think of a white, iPod-esque RAZR as the Stage 1 iTunes phone. Why would this be better than Cingular's push? Well, the phone Cingular pushed stinks... it's an outdated clamshell. That's not iPod-sexy enough to make someone change cell phone plans and jump contracts, not by a freakin' mile. For now, I guess we'll have to sit on our hands, as perhaps Apple is focusing on their Windows MediaCenter counterpunch. Controversially enough, I'm a big fan of MediaCenter, despite the occasional freezing up, that is, of course. :)