I am a pretty hard core geek when it comes to gadgets and especially cell phones. For the past few years, I’ve been tooling with a few Windows Mobile phones. I’ve done everything (flashed, overclocked, ect) to them to push the limits of their usability and functionality.
Recently, I had an opportunity to buy an iPhone. I was a little reluctant considering the release of the new iPhone is a few weeks away.
Long story short, I’ve been using the iPhone for about a week now. I must admit, the phone does live up to it’s hype. I am surprisingly impressed. The hardware side is comparatively (to other high end phones) good but the impressive part is the thought that was given to the user experience.
1) Simplifying and keeping the user interface simple: When you interface with the native iPhone apps, everything that you do is limited to just a few options. It also only shows you options and buttons that apply to what you’re doing.
When you choose an option, the phone takes you down a specific path until you complete that task without introducing additional options. This keeps the user focused to complete their task at hand while being able to keep the interface clutter free.
2) Attention to details: Apple did a great job to think out every little detail and then going the extra mile to provide a solution. Take for example the soft keyboard. Coming from phones that had full hardware Qwerty keyboards, switching to a touchscreen keyboard was something that I thought I would not like. Although it takes a little getting use to, I actually type faster now. Check out the little video of the design of the keyboard to see the thought that was put into this.
We are in the process of designing the new version of the Agent Shield back end. The iPhone has really help, inspire and influence the design of the new back end. We are shooting to release it in the next couple of weeks. Enjoy the video.
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