|
So
far web design has been obsessed with the 1-1 relationship between
the site and the User. With the possible exception of Intranet sites,
collaborative computing has been by-and-large ignored. That will
need to change in order to deliver compelling wireless applications
which add sufficient value to make people switch away from their
PC Web Browsers.
The
Web has been considered to be a 1-1 narrowcasting, pull media. That
is to say that it is very different from say TV which is a mass,
1-many, broadcast(wide), push media. Many web site designers and
.com companies are still struggling to come to terms with this change.
It requires a whole new way of looking at marketing. We're not in
a broadcast world anymore.
It
is very tempting to take that new understanding and translate it
onto wireless web applications. That would be wrong! Why? Simply,
that as designers we often fail to understand how people live and
how they work together, rather we focus merely on how they interact
with the technology. A User sits at her desk, types on her computer
keyboard and mouses over the screen. It's a 1-1 interaction between
User and Website through a PC Browser. Traditionally, it has been
a static thing. Sell the User a book, while they sit at work. They
have their credit card in their purse. It doesn't involve movement.
It doesn't involve other human beings.
The
challenge with wireless is to deliver compelling content for the
mobile user.
Mobile
means "on the move"
Apart
from the obvious advantage of having ubiquitous access to information
such as stock prices, mobile applications have to deliver usefulness
for people on the move. After all, if they weren't "on the
move" then they would be at their desk using a PC and Web Browser.
It
is all too tempting to get drawn into the notion that individuals
go places and do stuff. Companies such as vicinity.com
are beginning to deliver services which allow you to identify the
nearest fast food restaurant, given a Brand Name and a Zip Code
or Street and City. Soon, it will be possible to pre-order from
the menu. Great!
What
a feature like this fails to take true advantage of, is that you
rarely go to the fast food store alone. More likely you will be
with colleagues or family.
The
reality is that human beings for the most part live and move in
groups. Those groups change throughout our lives and indeed throughout
the week or even the day. It has recently become popular to refer
to these as Affinity Groups.
Our
Affinity Groups
Taking
myself as example, I move in various "affinity" groups.
Firstly, there is a group with my wife - the Anderson couple; if
we had children there would be an Anderson Family group; back home
in Scotland, I have my parents and brother, at any given time I
could be moving in groups with them; then there is the cycling club
I ride with; my Japanese class; the dance class that I attend with
my wife; my colleagues at work with whom I form several groups;
there is the "Usability" interest group; the Web Solutions
group; the project group for my current client; the Professional
Services Division; the adhoc groups formed for lunchtime dining;
the book review group; and so the list goes on and on. Throughout
my week I move together with others, take part in group activities
and coordinate my actions with a diverse list of groups.
Wireless
internet applications on WAP Phones or PDAs will start to be useful
and compelling to me when they begin to help me live this social
life, when they begin to understand my affinity groups.
A
Scenario : Friday night in Dublin
So,
it's approaching 5pm on Friday night, at my old job in suburban
Dublin. The norm for the group is to reconvene at a nearby pub for
a beer or two. Something to let off a little steam and plan for
the evening ahead.
With
no shortage of pubs to choose from, there might be some debate by
email before one is chosen. Not everyone can go straight from work,
as they have other commitments. They prefer to meet the group later,
downtown.
Friday
evening starts with an adhoc group meeting at a local pub. After
a beer, they each head to their respective homes while they are
still "under the limit" for alcohol consumption and driving.
The agreement is to meet again, at one of possibly two pubs downtown.
Dublin is rightly famous for its pubs. [If you haven't been to Dublin,
Ireland then you really should give it a try on your next long weekend].
At
the second pub later in the evening, a new group has formed. Most
of the faces from the first group plus some new ones. There are
several things on the agenda: drinking; eating; music; and dancing.
It is likely that 4 locations will be required to meet the exacting
needs of the group. The first pub might be good for beer but the
food is poor or nonexistent, the next place may have good food but
the music is poor. There may be good music at another pub but it
closes relatively early and dancing can be better had somewhere
else.
So
how can wireless applications help here?
Wireless
aided Friday nights
Firstly,
it ought to be obvious that mobile phones are already a big part
of this scenario. Calling around the group discussing and announcing,
where and when is a key part of the evening.
Even
with this year's technology, in some cities around the world, it
will be possible to query for pubs and restaurants, query for menus,
query for entertainment - what music, where? It may also be possible
to book a taxi. Imagine how much better that is going to get when
the wireless application understands the group dynamics.
An
Affinity Enabled, wireless Friday night!
So,
it's around 7pm. Most of the group have left the first pub to go
home and change and leave their cars behind. It's time to broadcast
to the group the new meeting place. The wireless application knows
who might be involved because they indicated earlier at work using
some email or website correspondence.
Each
group member receives a notification and a request asking if they
need a taxi. The application already knows the pickup point (their
phone or home) and the destination.
Later,
in the pub, it's time to talk about food. A discussion of what kind
and where and how much takes place. How nice it would be to ask
the phone to suggest places based on those criteria. Once selected,
make a booking. Maybe this happens by switching to voice and calling
the place, but the "interaction session" is continuous.
The phone learns of a successful booking and asks again, if a taxi
is required. If yes, it knows that the group is 7 people, so it
requests 2 taxis. It knows the pickup point and the destination.
The phone could also pay the bill, maybe it asks if the caller is
paying or whether the bill is being divided amongst the whole group.
Later,
in the restaurant the same thing could happen. Individual payments,
split bill, or one person treats all the others.
Affinity
Enabling will appear in stages
Ideal,
"Affinity Enabled" applications will not appear overnight.
To be really useful I believe that they will need the Bluetooth
chip. This will make it easier for a group of mobile devices to
"detect" who is in a rapidly changing Affinity Group.
However,
in the short term, vendors can provide Affinity Group functionality
for more established, rather than adhoc groups. For example, it
could know about your couple group - together with your spouse or
date. It could also know about your immediate family group. These
types of affinity groups would be truly useful. Already companies
such as myfamily.com are establishing
this as niche business application.
Consider
how useful it would be for a father whilst on business in Seattle
to propose by wireless application that the family meet for a movie
at the local-to-home theatre later that evening. Using either wireless
devices or PC, each family member can propose and vote on a movie,
determine the ideal time and ideal location. Eventually the application,
aware of the affinity group, books the appropriate number of tickets
for the whole family.
The
return of CSCW
Around
5 years ago, before the internet was a big thing. The real big thing
at the time was "groupware". The height of this market
happened perhaps in 1996 shortly after IBM paid what seemed at the
time, a ridiculous price for Lotus and its Notes product. During
this time, it had been realized that there were vast fortunes to
be saved by helping people to work together better. The academic
field of HCI, and the industry were just beginning to understand
the problems, difficulties and challenges of collaborative and cooperative
working and then the World Wide Web arrived in the mainstream and
suddenly it was all about eCommerce and Business-to-Consumer. It
was all about HTML and Javascript and applets and back to the world
of thin-client computing. CSCW had been dropped as an area of big
interest. Well the wireless world means that CSCW is back! And it's
back at the forefront of importance. Why?
To
deliver compelling wireless applications we have to comprehend that
people move in groups and they do stuff in groups. Humans are for
the most part social creatures. In order to deliver these compelling
features, applications need to understand the Affinity Groups that
people move in, and in order to do that we need to gain a deeper
and broader understanding of how to deliver collaborative and cooperative
applications, whilst achieving this on screens the size of oversized
postage stamps.
|
