The iPhone’s silent switch
I came across this quote this morning and find it rings very true. We’ve all experienced some great and some very poor User Interfaces on the web, at the cash machine, on our mobile. Things just get far more complicated than they need to be. Nelson Minar highlights how the iPhone takes a step towards simplicity.
While the sleek touchscreen defines the iPhone’s design, one of the things I like about it are the simple mechanical buttons on the side. There’s a dedicated volume rocker which instantly makes the iPhone a better music player than any iPod. But even better is the silent mode switch, an old fashioned mechanical two position switch. Slide it away, feel a satisfying click, and your phone is now in silent mode. There’s even an orange dot visible for visual confirmation.
You can measure the disaster of cell phone UI by how many button presses it takes to silence the damn ringer. My first Nokia phone took 2, the Ericsson took 3, and on the RAZR it’s like 17 button presses. You don’t need silent mode often, but when you do you need it quickly and without a bunch of screen reading distraction. The physical switch for that is lovely.
What can you do today to simplify the process your users go through?
[From Nelson's Weblog via Merlin Mann at 43Folders]
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August 8th, 2007 at 12:52 am
Dude, the Treo 180 pioneered the ringer switch in 2002. Every Treo since then has had it. Like a few other iPhone “innovations” this feature had debuted elsewhere but teh Steve Jobs reality distortion field kept many people from doing background checks on Steve’s claims.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
You’re absolutely right, David.
The iPhone isn’t the first one to do this, but nonetheless, it’s a breath of fresh air of simplicity in a world where most phones are becoming more complex and offering more buttons, switches and menu options.