The prototype application in Mobile User experience design

A good chair, do we need to read the manual to know how to use it? The answer is, of course, negative. A good chair is when we see it, we naturally know what it can do and how we use it. In other words, the concept of "chair" has been deeply rooted and is highly recognised as a prototype (archetype). In the existing mobile field, we are also exploring how to incorporate the concept of "prototype" into our design.

The definition of a prototype is the original form of something that is copied, imitated, or emulated, a symbol that can be widely recognized.

As we climbed up the ladder, we sat on the chair, rested, opened the door for a walk, and finished the series, we rarely thought about how we could sit down in a chair, or how to use the stairs, experience and memory helped us to do it naturally!

That's what we need to explore, in the mobile world, how can our user experience design do that? We hope to be able to use the concept of the prototype to complete, and now there are many apps design, embodies the concept of the application of the prototype, summed up in the following several forms.

1. Application-centric

2. Activity-centred

3. Take time as the center

4. Situational perception (geographical location) as the center

5. Task-centric

6. Emotion as the center

7. Take character as the center

1. Application-centric

In this prototype application of mobile user experience, the interactive experience is mainly from the application. The operating system of mobile devices is the main engine for managing and running these apps, and we use these apps as tools to do our job.

Apple's iphone platform, for example, has a "Swiss Army knife"-like Application Center, which gives us the first sense of a similar "buffet" experience.

Other mobile devices for operating platforms are also presented in this form. The operating system platform is like the "tray" we use in the buffet, and apps is the "meal" we choose.

2. Activity-centred

In this prototype application of mobile user experience, the focus is shifted to focus activities. The activity defines the category of the user experience. We often use visible visual forms to express activities, and we usually arrange them in a sequential way.

The most classic example is the Metro Interface of Window Phone7, which uses the "activity first", or "content first" design orientation. When the user first experience, directly to show the user the most important activity information, followed by the emphasis on his apps.

3. Take time as the center

In this prototype application of mobile user experience, time is the main factor to consider. Time is the primary reference dimension when users manipulate and process data and information.

4. Situational perception (geographical location) as the center

Situational (geographic) Perception-centric user experience prototypes, originated from GPS applications and social networking sites, where users set up and integrate other related geographic data via GPS to place "check-in" (check in).

An application called Photosynth can be used to disassemble and blend photos taken by users in one place, creating an interactive 3D virtual scene in the region.

Another application, called Layar, is through the mobile phone camera, using the location of the user's information, to achieve the combination of virtual and reality user experience.

5. Task-centric

In the application of such prototypes, our common form is "breadcrumbs", which allows the user to manage and complete tasks in a process-Xu Lei form in which the user can perform forward and backward actions between tasks.

6. Emotion as the center

Jonathan Harris's "We Feel Fine" is an emotional-centric interaction prototype, although it has not been ported to mobile platform devices for the time being, but it represents a potential trend. In this application, each data point represents an emotional sensation.

7. Take character as the center

Users who have had a social networking experience should not be able to do this, and the characteristics of the individual and the characteristics of the friends in your social networking circle are the factors that the prototype will focus on.

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The interactive experience of our products or services results in significant differences in the selection of prototypes. Twitter, for example, is typically centered on people's state characteristics, and what happens if it changes its prototype to an emotional-centric form of LinkedIn? It might bring a completely different experience to our professional social network.

The interaction design is still in its early stages (especially in the mobile arena), and some mobile user experiences have been hugely successful and, of course, more than meets the needs. The use of interactive prototypes is a need for continuous iterative and development, with a view to more mature and stable user experience.

It is believed that in the near future, more complex and diverse forms of mobile interaction will continue to emerge, adding these mature, universally accepted prototypes to our user experience design to make the user experience more enjoyable in a more intuitive way.