by CalebFebruary 4, 2010

Could A Graphic Language For Touch Help Educate Mobile Users?

rfid_iconography_large

In the past week we've seen US based companies like Jagtag striving to standardize barcodes, and reports stating that mobile ticketing will be the next big thing. Our phones will quickly become the primary tool for access, as has been happening in Japan, and now is seen in the US through examples like American Airlines' paperless boarding. For many however, this behavior is still abstract, and there is a need for direction and education.

Above is "A Graphic Language For Touch" (Timo Arnall, 2005) which hopes to visually represent different interactions between information and physical objects or spaces. Using a universal set of symbols would be ideal, except the technologies are not yet standardized. If RFID were to become mainstream, imagine one of these graphics placed on an in-store object or in a taxi cab.

Would a standardized visual system help users pick up on barcode scanning, and mobile information exchange behavior? It surely could've helped the Weather Channel in this instance of television based call-to-action.

  • The knowledge gap in mobile application usage is one that must be bridged in order for the technology to go mainstream. The visual cues that you outline point to the immense value of integrating mobile and digital out-of-home media. DOOH's ability to play dynamic, full motion content provides a welcome platform to walk people through mobile app usage.
  • richdys
    Great little application but horribly displayed. . . as in most cases it will take time for awareness drivers to adopt the best practices in appropriate display formats. . . We have been through this 800 numbers url addresses, sms and keywords displayed creatives figured it out and the market found its way to the best practice. . . It would help immensely if we could arrive at a standard 2d bar code format and it would be even better if that reading software was in the underlying O.S. for the handset. What is unsettling if you read the reader reviews on the App store for any of the scan code apps such as scanbuy, neomedia etc they are abysmal two stars with lots of consumer complaints. We would be well served to read those. At the end of the day These are hurdles not barriers . . . we need to jump them one at a time. . .
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