Ideas and Discoveries

I thought my first CNN appearance marked the next generation of a new device. Instead, it was an unwitting tribute to Steve Jobs. Rest in peace, Steve, we miss you.

I joined nine of the smartest people I know to think through a future-friendly strategy for keeping up with the fast-changing mobile landscape. Here’s what we came up with.

I’m pitching a SXSW talk about crafting discoverable gestures and joyous touchscreen interfaces. I could use your vote.

This fun and wide-ranging infoviz video provides a nifty snapshot of how quickly our digital lives are changing.

A measly 12 percent of the top 500 US online retailers have mobile websites. Many who do have mobile sites are fumbling with misguided attempts to create lite versions of the “real” website.

Tomi Ahonen shared his snapshot of global mobile stats, including a slew of just-plain-astonishing nuggets.

Designing for touch means creating direct interactions that shed three decades of abstract desktop metaphors. As designers, that means we have some deprogramming to do.

I couldn’t stop giggling when I saw my ugly mug on this tea towel created by the good folks at Future of Web Design.

“The best iPad apps are not those that just stretch their iPhone table views out to take advantage of the larger screen.”

A stark example of how quickly new platforms generate enthusiasm along with an appetite for learning and community among developers.

A gallery of mobile horrors calls itself “an argument for closed systems,” but more subtly, it’s really an argument that bad taste abounds.

This isn’t a matchup at all. Providing a great experience almost certainly means that you’ll build both web and native-app solutions. We’re all in this together, friends.

Just ordered “Helvetica and the New York City Subway System” based on an engaging review by Michael Bierut.

I just finished teaching an eight-week class on tapworthy iPhone design and user experience. If you missed it, all 12 hours of video are available for sale.

Iotacons are clever, low-resolution portraits by illustrator Andy Rash. There’s a whole lotta win here.

SXSW spilled over the levees of Austin’s infrastructure, creating logistical headaches that sank the conference. But man, it sure was fun. Also: I gave a talk on iPad app design.

Touchscreens introduce new interface metaphors, as well as new techniques to subtly help our audiences understand how to use our apps. Suzanne offers some useful examples.