Designing the Mobile User Experience

Mobile and wireless application design is complex and challenging. Selecting an application technology and designing a mobile application require an understanding of the benefits, costs, context, and restrictions of the development company, end user, target device, and industry structure.

Designing the Mobile User Experience provides the experienced product development professional with an understanding of the users, technologies, devices, design principles, techniques and industry players unique to the mobile and wireless space. Barbara Ballard describes the different components affecting the user experience and principles applicable to the mobile environment, enabling the reader to choose effective technologies, platforms, and devices, plan appropriate application features, apply pervasive design patterns, and choose and apply appropriate research techniques.

Designing the Mobile User Experience: Provides a comprehensive guide to the mobile user experience, offering guidance to help make appropriate product development and design decisions. Gives product development professionals the tools necessary to understand development in the mobile environment. Clarifies the components affecting the user experience and principles uniquely applicable to the mobile application field. Explores industry structure and power dynamics, providing insight into how mobile technologies and platforms become available on current and future phones. Provides user interface design patterns, design resources, and user research methods for mobile user interface design. Illustrates concepts with example photographs, explanatory tables and charts, and an example application.

Designing the Mobile User Experience is an invaluable resource for information architects, user experience planners and designers, interaction designers, human factors specialists, ergonomists, product marketing specialists, and brand managers. Managers and directors within organizations entering the mobile space, advanced students, partnership managers, software architects, solution architects, development managers, graphic designers, visual designers, and interface designers will also find this to be an excellent guide to the topic.

User review
Nice read
Absolutely this is a must have book for any mobile designer and geek passionate for mobile devices

User review
Nice update to Handheld Usability
Handheld Usability
The above link is to a book that is easily the predecessor to `Designing the Mobile User Experience.` The shame of it is that Barbara Ballard and Scott Weiss did not collaborate to produce a second edition, sharing both of their insights. Instead, Ballard writes the same book, but in 2007 instead of 2002, with many of the same weaknesses, and many of the same strengths. Readers who liked `Handheld Usability` will enjoy `Designing the Mobile User Experience,` but will be frustrated by the lack of detailed WAP design advice. Also missing is detailed advice for FlashLite, UIOne, SVG, tat, Java, and other environments. Ballard is a very strong writer, with very strong opinions. Fortunately, she is very smart and knowledgable, with extensive experience working at Sprint and since, providing services to Sprint. Wiley did her a disservice by printing the book in black and white, and does a crazy disservice to readers by charging so much for the book. However, designers who want to learn about mobile will benefit from this book. Experienced mobile designers will be frustrated, as they were with `Handheld Usability.` Even experienced mobile designers should consider purchasing this book, as a reference and as a supplement to their own knowledge.