simpTEXTity

Nokia is concerned about how it will find a balance in the paradox between features and complexity. They want to explore ways to keep features but reduce complexity at the same time. The current benchmark is the Internet experience with big screens and full keyboard. We are exploring the communication needs of ‘people to people’ rather than ‘people to device’ . We are trying to interpret the device as a lens rather than container for communication needs.

The pragmatic question is: how can we design fully immersive experiences with reduced screen size and keys?

This project is about designing for the future mature needs of today’s younger generation. Their demands and expectation of what the mobile communication systems will be different than that of today’s mature users. In the context of this project this focus translates into the Series 60 devices of Nokia which are designed for so called ‘Smartphone’. The challenge here is to rethink and redesign the interactions of this genre and push the boundaries of ‘smartphones’ to ‘smart + communication’ and thus addressing the future needs and aspirations of such users.

simpTEXTity is a easy way to navigate through complex menus, functions and choices by using text input as a command line. It is inspired by search method on the computers and over the internet: to simply type and find what one is looking for. As mobile phones are becoming more like to computers with access to the internet and various platforms of communication, the user should be able to choose all possible options at the same time. simpTEXTity works with text input from mobile key input, and lists all the available options and contexts to choose from one by one, allowing user to decide suitable means of communication in a constant and efficient flow. simpTEXTity was part of Industry Project at Pilot Year, CIID.

The text approach, is suited for a complex yet compact interface, efficiently freeing up screen real-estate, which in turn can be used for interesting visualisations of the complex information network searched.

Faculty: Vinay Venkatraman, Nicholas Zambetti
Co-students: Jacob Sikker Remin