Evantage Consulting, a leader in product and services strategy consulting, has contributed an article on the usability of Apple's iPhone to Johnny Holland, the online magazine that discusses the interaction between people and products, systems and processes.
"Since it was introduced, the iPhone has been regarded as the gold standard of good user experience design," explains Fred Beecher, author of the article and Senior User Experience Consultant at Evantage.
"In my experience as a late adopter, though, I have noticed that it was not as easy to use as I'd expected. Looking into why it was nonetheless a commercial success revealed some of the design problems user experience designers will need to address in the immediate future."
In his article, Beecher analyzes both the specific usability issues he encountered as well as where the iPhone succeeds and how both have impacted its commercial success. As a result, he declares that "fun is the new usable" and indicates how that will change the practice of user experience design. He then gives user experience designers specific resources and guidance on how to move the practice forward.
Read the full article on http://johnnyholland.org/2009/08/17/the-iphone-is-not-easy-to-use-a-peek-into-the-future-of-experience-design/.
About Fred Beecher
Fred Beecher is a Senior User Experience Consultant at Evantage Consulting in Minneapolis. Fred has been working in the user experience design industry for 11 years, doing research, information architecture, interaction design, and usability evaluation for a diverse array of clients like Medtronic, UnitedHealthcare, 3M, RBC Dain Rauscher, General Mills, Thomson Reuters, and the National Marrow Donor Program.
A recognized expert in rapid prototyping, Fred speaks frequently on the topic at national professional conferences and local user experience group meetings. In 2007, Fred developed the official training program for the Axure RP Pro rapid prototyping tool at the request of the makers. He has since trained additional consultants to give the courses and currently leads a broader Axure training program for Evantage.
Fred and the rest of the Evantage user experience consultants blog about user experience design at http://userexperience.evantageconsulting.com/2009/09/playfulness-usability-context-delightful-user-experience/.
About Evantage Consulting
Evantage Consulting solves complex problems creatively to help business leaders realize breakthrough results to deliver new products and services. The firm applies its strong analytics orientation across a holistic spectrum of data to create highly usable, intuitive and marketable products and services.
Evantage specializes in user experience and analytics, integrated web strategy, business performance consulting and innovations in health care.
Founded in 1999, Evantage Consulting is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. For more information, visit http://www.evantageconsulting.com. Evantage Consulting is also proud to be a two-time winner of the Minneapolis-St.Paul Business Journal's Great Places to Work award.
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