Interfaces for small devices

With the increasing amount of small devices we are using in everyday life, it is getting more difficult to keep track of the interfaces which these devices employ. People usually stick to one, and master it. Due to this, a lot of switching cost, usually time, is required for people to switch between devices that provide the same functions , but with different interfaces. Hence, any new device has to have an intuitive interface if it is to make it in the market.

With the advent of smartphones, less and less emphasis has been placed on gadgets that provide specialized functions. Utilising technology that has been growing smaller over the years, these phones are able to contain many functions within themselves, such as music playing and picture taking. The current boom of application creation that has been brought about by Apple giving APIs to users, and Google expanding it further with their open-source concept, is increasing the number of functions a smartphone has. With just a laptop, an application can be created to replace the television remote control, or to use the camera flash as a flashlight.

With so many functions embedded in one tiny devices, it certainly can be difficult to navigate. One example would be the phone company having created a menu of its own to allow easier navigation, when all it does is add to the confusion of having more items to look through. These 2 pictures below show the same smartphone tethering option in two different menus.

Having established that much confusion still exists in the navigation of interfaces in small devices, let us look at some of the ways that are being employed to help solve this.

First up is the famous (or infamous) Siri, known for executing tasks through voice commands and being able to comprehend Western accents more efficiently than others. This application helps tie all the other applications together through the use of a voice interpreter. In this manner, the user can navigate through the phone without having to actually press on any buttons. This, however, is not very comprehensive as it does not cover the manner of speech of non-Westerners, and has led to much frustration being posted on Youtube. Additionally, it seems to be unable to interpret some sentences correctly, or gives the same answers for some questions. This may interrupt the user's immersive experience by bringing him/her back to reality that (s)he is talking to a computer.

Next would be the use of cascading menus to help categorize different items. This approach has been long used in many operating systems. The only problem this would pose is the correct use of keywords and their consistency, while not having the same menu item more than once. Since correct use of words is varies from person to person, this approach is not a very intuitive one, and relies on the person's amount of use to master the navigation procedure.

Another method is the use of desktop-like pages to organise various icons which allow users to tell at a glance what applications there are without having to read the fine words. This method may require some customization on the part of the user, so it's not really easy to use at first.

While there are currently no fully functional and intuitive method of traversing content on portable small devices yet, it could be possible that voice control is the future, as it ties all the applications together and executes what the user says without requiring much effort on the user's part. So intuitive is this method that it was displayed in the film I,Robot when Susan Calvin attempts to turn on and off Detective Spooner's CD player she does it by voice initially. I believe the day when we can hold a conversation with our household devices is not too far off.