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Web Designers Increasingly Tailoring the User Experience Alongside the Surge of New Technology Devices
There has been a surge of new devices coming out with a wide variety of form factors and intended functionality. There was the boom of the netbook form factor and GPS/in-car systems, followed by the iPhone and other touchscreen mobile devices. Now companies are looking into providing more options for the touchscreen tablet-sized device and the HDTV screens that people already own (with the help of GoogleTV, AppleTV, and Boxee). These all are accompanying desktop computers, laptops and modern game consoles in the fact that they are all capable of being (if not already) Internet-enabled.
When people realize that the device that they’re using is Internet-enabled, they don’t want to have arbitrary limitations on what they can access considering that all of these devices have the screens and input methods that are necessary to access and navigate around a website or Web application that they can use on their computer. They’re all using the one-and-only Internet (or at least that’s how we’d like to keep it), so they should (in theory) be able to access the same content.
Many devices follow this rule of thumb by giving users access to a Web browser of some kind and this trend is becoming more prevalent among device manufacturers. This leaves Website designers with a new issue since most of the websites on the Internet were designed for computers with screen sizes ranging from around 13 to 24 inches with a mouse and keyboard. For example, needing to zoom and pan across a website that was designed for a desktop computer while using a mobile device is not the optimal experience.
It’s possible to take the same content on the site, detect the screen size of the device being used and display it in a way that best fits the device. The screen size detection is near instantaneous so it really comes down to the developers dedicating their time toward designing the new way that the content is displayed on the varying screen sizes. They can use a standard set of “Mobile,” “Computer” and “Projector/TV” options to limit the number of designs that need to be created (they might also choose to include a “Tablet” design). This still remains within the standardized capabilities of a website so the user is still simply accessing it via their Web browser of choice without needing to download an application or plug-in. (Although the developers might choose to offer an app simply due to the fact that it’s easier to access an application than to memorize and type in the URL on most devices.)
There’s a bunch of user interface libraries that developers can implement on their websites that help speed up the process of designing, as well as standardize an expected look and interactivity between websites that were developed by people who hold no relation (other than the fact that they used the same user interface library). Here’s a few that have sparked some interest in the developer community:
I would have included Cappuccino on that list, but 280 North (developers of Cappuccino) was recently acquired by Motorola so that they can continue their efforts for Motorola devices and software.
Still, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened—Palm was also recently acquired by HP and their efforts with WebOS (Web Operating System) will live on in HP’s future offerings. HP has already confirmed that their touchscreen tablet device coming “early in 2011” will be using WebOS instead of Windows 7 Tablet. Apple and Google (numerous hardware manufacturers are using Google’s software) already have a strong standing in this area and it’s reassuring to see that Motorola and HP are also making their commitment. The end result is being able to provide a centralized, yet completely open and free of corporate interests, access-point with content that’s custom-tailored to best fit the device that you are using.
It is important that we fight for this, because we don’t want our efforts of forming a centralized communication network to become overrun by large corporations that then will be able to influence what is sent over the network.
Kurt Zenisek
Web Developer
Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kzeni
Progressive Enhancement on the Web
I wrote an article in May called “What’s the Right Way to Update?” that covered the updating procedure for various software and how it can be improved so that users have the latest version. Having the latest version of software can be very important due to the fact that technology is updated at a fairly fast rate. Using a copy of software from six or so years ago can mean a lot in terms of what it can do and how you interact with it. For Website developers, the target audience could very well be using a range of Web browsers that were last updated as far back as 9 years ago or as recently as an hour ago. This is where the concepts of “graceful degradation” and “progressive enhancement” come in.
What is “Graceful Degradation?”
Graceful degradation is a development term that means a site is built to the latest standards, yet it still works for anyone using an old Web browser. Not everything will work exactly the same in the old Web browser, but nothing will be broken. This means that those users with the latest Web browsers will get to utilize all of the Website’s features, whereas those using a less capable browser will see a simplified version.
What is “Progressive Enhancement?”
Progressive enhancement is essentially the same as graceful degradation, but the developer starts by creating the base-level functionality that works in every browser. Then they add features to provide a little more for anyone using a modern Web browser. Graceful degradation and progressive enhancement provide the same benefits, but it’s just a matter of the developer’s preference as to what they want to use as their starting point.
Now that I understand the lingo, why do these terms matter?
I invite you to compare what Websites looked like in 2001 to what they look like now. Keep in mind that the Websites from 2001 were being viewed in Web browsers that were released just 5 years after the concept of displaying an image in line with other content on a Website was first implemented.
The modern idea of providing a better Website for users with capable browsers is in hopes that people using old Web browsers see some benefit in updating them, which would allow innovation to commence in the mainstream user base. I mean, a group of Web developers actually held a funeral for Internet Explorer 6 when Google announced that they no longer supported it (Microsoft even sent flowers)!
In the meantime, there still needs to be some ambition by developers that leads the way to the latest and greatest features and functionality .
Kurt Zenisek
Web Developer
Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kzeni
The Emergence of Mobile (Part 2)
In my last article, “The Emergence of Mobile (Part 1),” I gave an overview of the history of the mobile phone as we’ve come to know them—from the very first commercially available phone to the phones we use today. Now that the worldwide adoption of cell phones has increased from 12.4 million people in 1990 to approximately 4.6 billion in 2009, developers can have a seemingly modest goal of 1% cellphone market share penetration. That translates to 46 million people, and that’s quite a large reach for being only 1%. With such a large user-base & increasing attention from the media and general public, the big question is this: “What’s next?”

The timeline above shows milestones in the mobile market and it’s clear this industry has come a long way since 1946. If the common trend in devices continues, the next mobile phone will be smaller, faster, more durable and more aesthetically appealing. It will also be more affordable and have a longer battery life. Advancements like these are predictable and don’t really add anything new to the average mobile phone’s repertoire, but they do make for a device that is more universally appealing to consumers.
Researchers have been trying things that might seem ridiculous at first. For example, there are prototype phones being developed that feature an embedded video projector. This would be valuable for businesses or general users who want to share presentations, photos and videos without having to huddle around a small screen. Another approach is to create a mobile device that can “push” content to any TV with this functionality (such as Google TV).
Still other researchers have been exploring augmented reality:
Services like these provide location-aware information such as points of interest (ie. restaurants) and social interactions (ie. Tweets & status updates). This video doesn’t really show that the augmented reality concept has branched off into other areas including photo sharing, games, and more. The only thing that the user needs to do is point their camera at what they’re interested in to see the information. Consider that the alternative is going to Google and getting results that may or may not be what you’re looking for. Augmented reality isn’t a new idea, but it has become much more feasible with devices that now have high quality cameras, fast processors, compasses, gyroscopes and highly-accurate GPS.
New ways of accessing/sharing entertainment & information will continue to be developed so that people will always be able to choose the method that they prefer the most. Documents were first written on stone until paper was invented, and now technology has made it so that our ideas can be accessed, shared, and collaborated on with anyone, anywhere, and at any time. The concept of storing & distributing information remains the same but the possibilities have been extrapolated so consumers are no longer restrained by arbitrary limitations.
At one point, the most common way of getting information about someone involved looking them up in a phone book. Now you can find information in half that time by using Google search and find out more about them via a social media marketing site like Facebook. Both website designers and hardware/software developers have been busy making sure that what they make works harder, faster, smarter and easier for the user so that they have the best experience possible.
Who knows? At today’s rate of innovation, something like this will probably be coming to your household sooner than you might think!
Kurt Zenisek
Web Developer
Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kzeni






