Mobile interaction

They are growing in diversity and complexity, featuring new interaction paradigms, modalities, shapes, and purposes (e.g., e-readers, portable media players, handheld game consoles).

The main six design trends are portability, miniaturization, connectivity, convergence, divergence, and application software (apps).

The main disciplines involved in mobile interaction are psychology, computer science, sociology, design, and information systems.

Although not strictly sequential, they provide a good overview of the legacy on which current mobile computing research and design is built.

Understanding users and their needs is a key aspect in the design of mobile systems, devices, and applications so that they will be easy and enjoyable to use.

They bring methods and techniques from the social sciences (e.g., observational studies, ethnography) that can be used in the design and evaluation of mobile devices and applications.

People working in this area are concerned with looking at the design layout of the interface (e.g., colors, positioning of text or graphics on a screen of a PDA).

Therefore, it is crucial that services and applications reflect this limitation by reducing information complexity to fit the parameters of the mobile device, without losing any substantial content.