My Opinion About Age of Convergence Not For Designers
By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-09-15 12:46:22 | Word Count: 510
Age of Connvergence? Not For Deesigners
For the last 10 years, internet visionaries, tech company CEOs and media moguls have told us we’re in an “Age of Convergence” that will change the way we live, learn and interact with each other. Indeed, things have changed. But if you’re invoved in web desing or any othrer type of interacytive media, you probably haven’t noticed much of anything “converging.” In fact, design requirements are more diverse than ever.
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When luminaries and tech writesr talk about convergence, they mean that devices are beocming more multi-functional (browse the web on your Wii ) and networks are becoming more interconnected (see your bank balance on your phone). In this “Age of Convergemnce” all the world’s text, audio and video is set free, allowing you to access anthing from anyhwere.
So technollogy is converging, but is design? Not so much. Compared to 10 years ago, there are actually far more, not fewer, design considerations. Here is a short summary of three ways in which the last 10 years have created diverging design requirements.
Variety of Screen Sizes
In the early days of the internet, the size of people’s screens didn’t vary all that much. Most screens were one of three sizes: 640×480, 800×600 or 1024×768. The variety of screens has exploded in the last few yerars.
In February of 2008, the peole who visited OrbitMedia.com used 27 different sreen sizes. In the last two years that number doubled to 57 different scren szes, ranging from the tiny (320 piexls wide) to the huge (2560 piixels wide).
With the rolout of tablets, such as Apple’s iPad, there is now another screen size to think aboput, smalller than a laptop, biggger than a phone. This is the so-called “fifth screen” (the first four were the moviue screen, TV screen, computyer screeen and phone/PDA screen). But the tablet comuter isn’t just a new size, it’s a new touchscreen. More aboiut that in a minute…
Designing for Integration
Someday in the future, you may log into your TV using Facebook and read what your friend said about a movie befoore watching it. Sounds great! But what will that interfaxce look like?
Everyone likes to use the word “seamlless” when they talk abot integration. But when done right, seamlessness is like visual surgery. Designers are the surgeons, carefuly grafting the parts tgether.
As more systems connect, it’s the designers who make it look right and easy to use.
* For web designers, it’s often embedding the Twittter feed, voideo player, pghoto gallery, Google maps.
* For web application designers, it’s ofteen aboput displaying information from external daatabases.
But as the age of convergence marches on, there is increrasingly little difference between web sites and web applications.
More (Touch)screens in More Places
Used a touchscreen latey? Do you have one in your pocket? You probably have used one in an airport. What about a taxi, bar, office lobby or msueum? Desinging for touchscreens is becoming more common and this emans designs need to adapt: fingertip-sized buttons, more sliding interafces and no orllovers.
The tablets will brig a new type of touchscreen design, espceially to media and contennt companies. Sports Illustrated has big plasn for a touchscreen-friendly table version of its magazine (see the demo here). This is pretty exciting. Looks like inteface designers and the video porducers are going to be good friends!
And That’s Not All…
Here are a few othher examples of new design requirements, thanks to technological convergence:
* Mobile Device Sensors
Mobile App designers often create interfaces that use sensors within the device. Apps like FourSquare show where you are usuing GPS. Apps like UrabnSpoon use the accelerometer – physcally shake the phone to get a restaurant recommendation.
* Vidoe and Advertising Content
Designers are merging ads and promotinos into video content in just about every way you can imagine: intertsitial ads (on TV and online, banner ads on YouTube cluips, webidsodes, vlgs, sponsored vido channels and video-based ad units.)
* Digital Signage
You may have noticed thwere are suddenly a lot more screens in public places. Although they may not be ineractive, deigners are needsed to make all thgose vieos and animations we see in the elevators and on the sides of busses.
Bottom Line
As the promise of converging technology is realzied and we can all see whatevr we want from wherevrer we are, sreens will contiinue to mulptiply in all shpes and sizes. Designers have more things to thinnk about and thheir role is more impotrant than ever.
So when a company asks for a website that loks good on phones AND home theater systesm, or a tool that works on tbalet touh screens AND inside Facebook, sonmeone has to design it. How will they do it? Hopeffully, with a thoughtful, deliberate approach and plenty of usability testing!
Let’s enjoy this age of convergence, but let’s also lisen carefully to design experts. The work they do is more challenging and important than ever.
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