SXSW: Day 1

I’m no Tony Steward when it comes to blogging — you won’t get paragraphs chock full of insightful social media tips … you’re just gonna get the notes I took at SXSW today.  Ok, how about I bold the points I found the most interesting. Deal?

So after lunch at Torchy’s Tacos, we rolled into the Austin convention center: me, Tony Steward, Terry Storch, and Zack Foster.  Terry and I rolled to “The UX of Mobile.”  Here’s my notes:

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What’s UX to you?* Helping users have a product reach their goals.* SMS still exists and even works on your mom’s phone* Everything that screws up and makes people not want to use your product againIs it easier to iterate on mobile web over an app?* Short term vs long term.  Short term = apps, people are going gaga.  long term = mobile web.* Obj C vs Java?  Who cares?  Is it usable?* The mobile web experiences are sub-optimal.  This is going to change with further development in webkit.* Mobile web is quick and fast … and everyone will think you’re boring… but mobile web is going to catch up.* But when?  When will mobile web be viable?* When for what? It depends on what you’re building.* Issues with mobile web: offline storage and rich visual (games).Testing* Device Anywhere {I’m a big fan of Device Anywhere}, Keynote systems (testing), online emulators.* Always do usability testing on the user’s own device — they don’t know your device* Test early and often* Testing can be one of the first things cut or compressed.  Bad.* “testing in context” — seeing user’s test in a real-world scenario* testing with social networks — very difficult with an app that’s not liveWhat’s next?* Interaction with device and other screens (desktop and … TV!)* Mobile web is not a “tiny web screen.”  The phones are becoming better and cheaper.  More ubiquitous. Paradigm shift coming — prepare for it.* Looking at the full Amazon site on a tiny screen is stupid.* Prior to iPhone, hard to get clients interested in mobile.3 Most important devices?* iPhone, Android (nexus one), iPad* iPad coming from left field. Not from North America?  Nokia (n900). Meego - it’ll either die or be huge (rest of world). Lots of development from Nokia in Brazil. Sony playstation phone?* Iphone vs android is something we’ll laugh about in 5 years.  Where are we going? Better integration of the browser into the OS. Better capabilities when the browser gets better. When the prices go down, you’ll see clouds of devices.* Design for interrupt-ability — phone calls, SMS, the waiter coming to the table.* Phone Gap - write in HTML+JS+CSS —> access to 6 major platforms (website says 3)* “iphone and everybody else” —> bad answer.  Who are the users? What devices are they using? One idea: start with mobile web and track major usage —> make an app for your biggest user.###My one thought on the above: I can echo the comment about how too many companies have the “iphone and everyone else” mentality.  Even more, I’ve seen a lot of companies that feel like they need an iPhone app to be successful. On the contrary, there are lots of reasons to not have an iPhone app.  

1. Does your company really need an iPhone app?  What benefit will your users gain?  What will bring your users back to the app after their first experience?
2. Know your audience — there are more Blackberry users than you think.
3. Can you get away with starting in a mobile web world?  If so, do it.  Rather than dropping a ton of cash on an iPhone app — and only reaching a 54% of North American handsets — a mobile web app can get you into the 90% range.  Track your users coming to the site and then consider building an on-deck app (if you must).
4. Mobile web can iterate faster.  You have more control and can release updates faster.
5. I make mobile websites.  I’m biased.

Following this chat, I went with Foster to “Get Stoked on Web Typography.”  While fun, typography really isn’t my bag.  My notes:* Font Squirrel* League of Moveable Type (open source fonts)
See?  Foster’s notes were much longer.  :)I then cruised down to “Time + Social + Location. What’s Next In Mobile Experiences?”  After last year’s launches of both Foursquare and Gowalla, and this year’s impending “Location War”, this is a hot topic — and the fact that the room was packed 30 minutes ahead of schedule proved it.
The speakers included Naveen Selvadurai (Foursquare), Josh Babetski (Mapquest), and Greg Cypes (AOL).  No disrespect to the latter two, but they seemed to be a bit out of place.  In fact, Cypes kept using Foursquare and Gowalla for his examples and downplaying his company’s recent attempt to enter the space.
To be honest, the panel was lackluster.  You could tell the audience was well-educated on the subject, and incredibly interested in hearing experts.  But instead of new ideas, the panel spent the first 30 minutes simply explaining why check-in apps are interesting in the first place. Yes.  We know.  Now what’s next?
I could tell I was not the only one frustrated with the panel — people started leaving long before the event was finished.  Regardless, the final few minutes held a few good points (even a few good ones from the audience).  Notes below.###How do you create the hook?* Have a reason for them to keep coming back.* LinkedIn progress bar — profile % complete. Positive nagging.Privacy* Using social networks for robbery? PleaseRobMe. * Robbery is not a premeditated crime — it’s a crime of opportunity. No one’s going to really cruise your twitter stream, figure out where you live, and rob your house.* The data about where you are is already out there, contextually.* “Older” generation concerned about sharing their info — teens not too concerned.* More selective on sharing sites — “If i’m not going to sit down to dinner with you, i don’t want you to know where i am.”* Dunbar’s number —  you can have a max of 150 actual friends (“stable social relationships”)Augmented Reality* Where are my friends now?  Sure. What about: where have my friends been?* Naveen: not very bullish on this. Interfaces have a long way to go before people are comfortable enough to use them.  Hard to browse — lists are easier to read than dots on a picture.
Location — what about transient data? Taco trucks that move.  Flight #’s, etc.
SimpleGeo - centralizing location data. In order to do this, you must have data providers willing to share data and mash with other data providers… licensing issues.
What’s going to win? Open data. Location information should be in the public domain. Crowdsourced. Place data should have a single identifier. “Whoever figures that out is going to make a lot of money.” (Babetski)
Serendipity: algorithmic? or personal? Naveen: both. Facebook can do a great job suggesting things, but it can’t be 100% — it’s missing the social element.
Fatigue with these games? Naveen: opposed to a real life game (basketball) which has set rules, online games can evolve with the people.###Ok, that’s all I’ve got.  I’m pretty excited for tomorrow’s events, including talks on the iPad, more mobile, and HTML5.
PS  If you’re at SXSW, don’t miss my bossman Terry Storch at “Technology For Results Not Profits”