Alright, I confess, I’ve joined the Angry Birds bandwagon. I purchased the popular iPhone app the other day and have been pretty much addicted to it ever since. I’m currently in the fourth episode, though after I beat that I still have plenty of play time left as I go back and try to score three stars on all the levels.

Unfortunately, the game is ridiculously addictive and I probably find myself playing it more than is really good for me. As I noted on Twitter the other day, I think that there should be a new category on the iTunes App Store called “un-productivity” since, quite often, that seems to be what Angry Birds ultimately leads to!

Still, the game has been a huge success and I think that there is definitely something that we can learn from it!

Touch, Drag, Release

I am absolutely convinced that a huge part of the success that Angry Birds has seen stems from that fact that it is so incredibly easy to play. All you do is touch the screen, drag your finger across the it to pull back the game’s slingshot and then release to send your bird flying on a destructive trajectory towards the increasingly complex structures of the of those vile, green, egg stealing pigs!

That’s really all there is to it. Of course, it’s not quite as easy as it sounds. Angry Birds is a real puzzle game and there is a lot of strategy involved in how you aim your feathered onslaught, but the basic mechanics of the game remain unchanged from the first level to the last.

In fact, the game is so simple that my two and half year old daughter can, with a little assistance, actually play it with me. She doesn’t really understand what she’s doing, but she knows that she had to pull the birds back on the slingshot and try to hit the little green pigs on the other screen. Her dexterity is not quite developed enough to be able to do it all on her own, and I generally have to guide her finger, but its still impressive that she is able to engage with the game at all.

Similarly, my wife and I were over at some friends’ for dinner a few weeks ago and, after the meal when were just sitting in the living room chatting, I ended up having their three year old boy on my lap, spending the better part of an hour playing Angry Birds, with just an occasional bit of help from me.

Rain feathery destruction on the evil, egg-stealing pigs

What’s the point of all this, though? Is this an article about simplicity or minimalism in design? Not exactly. I think that the remarkable simplicity of Angry Birds (and other successful iPhone games) is actually a by-product of the fact that it is designed specifically for the method of control that is ultimately offered by the device on which the game itself is played. My wife probably wishes there was a version of the app available for her BlackBerry, but the game’s design simply does not match the scroll and click functionality of that device!

A Square Design in a Round Device

Yes, it would probably be possible to create some sort of port of Angry Birds for the BlackBerry, where some alternate form of control is created to fake or emulate the dynamic of the iPhone, but I find that this is something like the old adage of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Or, in this case, trying to fit a square design in a round device. This is, of course, is more a statement of purpose rather than actual geometric shape, but my own, larger gaming experience actually supports the idea.

Several years ago, we in the Ward home decided to buy a Wii, primarily because of its novelty at the time, and also because of the large selection of games that could be played by the entire family (we spend hours Mario-karting). A few weeks later, my lovely wife decided to rent me a game for some reason, and came home with Transformers, which was based on the story of the first movie. It seemed like it would be a really cool experience, especially since I really dug the film.

It was horrible.

The story didn’t really follow the movie all that closely, but I could live with that – it was the sort of thing that happens fairly frequently with video game adaptations of movies. What made the game almost impossible for me to play was the controls. Within just a matter of minutes I could already tell that it was the type of game which is far better suited to a more traditional kind of console, such as an X-Box or a PlayStation, both of which used a standard, hand-held controller (this was before the release of Kinect or PlayStation Move).

Transofmers for Wii has a weak control system which seems more suited to more traditional gaming platforms

The Wii, however, is a very different kind of system with its motion based remote and detachable nunchuck extension. Because the Transformers game seemed to have been originally designed for a different kind of device, something was definitely lost in the translation from one platform to another. The controls were clumsy and non-intuitive, ultimately undermining the overall quality of the game and causing me to set it aside and not play it very much.

In stark contrast, is another Wii game like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. While, like Transformers, it is a third person adventure game, my initial experience with it could not have been more different. The controls were actually incredibly easy to pick up. They felt natural and easy and made the game fun and easy to play, rather than difficult and frustrating, as I experienced with Transformers.

Twilight princess has a much more enjoyable and natural feeling control system and feels right at home on the Wii

Why? I believe it is because the game was purposefully and intentionally designed with the need for Wii-based gameplay in mind. Yes, I recognize that the game was originally created for the more traditionally controlled GameCube, and was actually ported to the Wii (though released ahead of the GC version), but Nintendo did a great job at designing a play system specifically geared to the its unique device, rather than just approximating and trying to force the Wii to behave as much like an X-Box or PlayStation as possible!

Thinking About Design

Alright, so we’ve talked at length about different types of video games, but what does this all have to do with actual design? Well, as our experiences of the Internet and the web continue to grow and diversify, so to does the entire industry of web design. We are seeing an ever increasing array of different devices that are being used to access information, many of which may have different properties or functionality.

From my experience, the most prevalent of these certainly seems to be the touch-based mobile devices like the iPhone or iPad, which introduce all kinds of new an interesting problems when it comes to screen sizes and interaction. How do we handle controls that may have previously been made visible on hover states? How does text size work in the design, not only in terms of readability, but in terms of interaction (different finger sizes)? How does device movement, such as flip scrolling, affect or inform the design?

These are all important, device-specific questions that need to be considered when designing (sites or apps) for the expanding Web. Just as Angry Birds, finds its success in being perfectly suited for touch-based gaming and Twilight Princess was optimized for motion-based play, I truly believe that the most successful designs that we will see emerge over the coming years will be those which are crafted to function (or better yet, thrive) in a device’s particular behavioral context.

Conclusion

In many ways, this is probably a very simple lesson, but then Angry Birds is a very simple game, isn’t it? Besides, sometimes it’s a important to be reminded of the basic truths that can occasionally be overlooked in the larger context of the design process.

So, next time you break out those brightly coloured, pig crushing birds, take the time to think about how the game that is probably eating up your valuable time is actually a prime example of successful device-specific design.

Main image by Yaniv Golan

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As you may have read in one of my recent posts, I have become the owner of a brand new iPhone. This is the third Apple product that I have acquired (after my iPod Nano and MacBook), and there are some common elements that I have experienced with all of them. Obviously, there is the excellent design and craftsmanship. All three products feature beautiful lines and surfaces, and just generally lovely to look at. That is somewhat of a hallmark of Apple’s line of products!

iPhone Lessons and the User Experience

The other thing that was common to all three of the products was an exceptional user experience – specifically in terms of first contact. In this article, I would like to look at four lessons that I learned through my own initial experience with my new iPhone.

Before getting started, though, I would like to preface this discussion by stating that user experience (or UX as it is called) is an area in which I am still learning and growing. As such, I certainly don’t come at this subject with any claim at being an authoritative voice on the subject. Instead, I would simply like to share some of my own observations and outline what I feel that I’ve learned from them.

Attractive Packaging

Before ever even getting my hands on the iPhone (and beginning a never ending battle with fingerprints and smudges on its glassy black surface), my first contact was with the packaging itself. The box was small and compact, and a remarkable example of design in its own right! The top of the box featured an image of the iPhone itself, with the apps arranged to their default configuration.

The shape of the iPhone was also raised out of the smooth rigid cardboard, and printed with a shiny finish along the silver bevel. All of this radiated the simple promise of the device that was resting inside, waiting to be used and enjoyed.

All told, this first moment of contact with the product was extremely enjoyable (I will definitely be keeping that box). From this, I would suggest that, although simple packaging on its own will never be enough to establish a positive user experience, it’s certainly a good first step.

I think that this same premise can be translated into a lesson for designing all types of user experience. By wrapping the product in an attractive and enjoyable package (either physical or metaphorical), you can begin to establish the foundation for a positive user experience. Once the packaging is opened, however, it will always be up to the product itself to deliver that experience.

Uniformity of Brand

After opening the packaging, I obviously came face to face with the iPhone itself, resting in its simple, black plastic cradle. There were, however several other things also to be found in that little black box, including the instruction booklets, headphones, the USB cable and a nifty little adapter which turns that cable into an independent charging cord that plugs right into the wall.

All of these things were wonderfully familiar to me through my experience with other Apple products. I would like to consider each of them independently.

The lesson learned here is the importance of branding in the user experience. For me, every purchase of an Apple product only emphasizes my understanding of their core brand values. Also given that I have had a positive experience with all of their products, I can thus be confident that any future purchases will also provide me with a similar (positive) experience!

It Just Works

One phrase that we’ve heard as recently as Steve Jobs’ much heralded revelation of the already infamous iPad is that “it just works”. This is equally true of the iPhone. I was able to simply turn it on and start using it. I pressed the home button and up popped the menu. I quickly located Safari (another form of brand uniformity), launched the app and started surfing the internet.

The iPhone reall does just work (click for original image source)

It really was that easy.

And so was setting up my email. I just plugged the iPhone into my MacBook and synced them up. Immediately, the mail app on my iPhone was configured and I was able to download and read my emails. All of the other apps worked the same way. As such, my immediate experience with the product (and my continuing experience so far) is that it just works. There’s no need to jump through hoops to get it to do what I want.

The lesson to be learned here is that a product should just do what it is designed to do. This, of course, would include a website. If your site is designed to have a specific functionality, making sure that it just works the way it’s supposed to is a relatively a elementary (though perhaps not always simple) way to help ensure a positive user experience!

Wonderful Simplicity

The iPhone is also wonderfully simple and intuitive to use. This is similar to the fact that it just works, but I categorize it somewhat differently because a product can work the way it’s designed to but still be more complex than is really necessary.

Not so with the iPhone. After turning it on, I was able to navigate through the apps easily – literally just with a flip and tap of my thumb. Various functionality, such as systems settings were easy to find and understand. After just a few hours I felt more than competent with the device. This all contributed to a positive experience on my part.

Compare this against my wife, who picked up a Blackberry at the same time as I got the iPhone. She actually really loves her new phone, so I am by no means suggesting that she had a negative user experience, but there was certainly a longer learning curve as she accustomed herself to using the device and navigating through the various menus and sub menus.

Fortunately the learning curve was not so steep as to turn her off of her new purchase, but there is a user experience lesson to be learned here too. Make the use of your product (or design) as simple as possible. Of course, you don’t want to sacrifice functionality, but making your interface simple and intuitive is another crucial step towards helping to ensure a positive experience for your users and/or customers.

Conclusion

Well there you have it. This is probably not the most scientific or academic way out outlining use experience, and is certainly not an exhaustive list of the areas that you need to consider when designing for user experience. Still, I hope that you can learn something from this article. At the very least, I hope that my experiences have helped to affirm some of the things that you may have already known on the subject.

As I mentioned, I’m far from an expert in user experience, so I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on this one. Did any of you have a similar experience with your iPhones, or perhaps with a different product? Please feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts and experiences!

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