A new User Experience: Apple’s iPad
Long announced with perfect management of expectations (as usual), finally Apple’s iPad arrived on the market (although not ready for shipping yet). As so many people with a design background, we are really excited about this cool gadget!
Not so much because of the product design of the hardware, since it looks more like a large iPhone, but because of the user experience potential inside. Valuating the user experience on basis of effectiveness, efficiency, and contextual satisfaction of the user, this must be a winner!
When it comes to effectiveness, it helps that the iPad is not a computer serving all kinds of purpose, but designed for special use as an internet, media and organizer device. Working with spreadsheets might be a little bit annoying, but that’s not the point! Surfing the web and using the plethora of already existing iPhone apps, this will boost effectiveness right from the start.
Another cool thing is Apple’s ability to create whole systems instead of standalone devices – systems which combine hardware, software and online services. The integration of iBooks (like iTunes just for books) with the iPad will create a completely new way of buying books, bringing the convenience of having almost every book at your finger tips.
So what about the efficiency? Given the fact that millions of iPhones an IPods have been sold worldwide, and more and more hardware manufacturers copy the software controls of Apple products (especially from the iPhone), many people will intuitively know how to use it. Although they applied some new interesting looking controls (as seen in the official video), they adopted everyday applied offline user behavior (such as flipping digital paper).
Apple wouldn’t be Apple when they did not focus on the overall user experience! Starting with the smooth and aesthetic hardware design, combining it with polished (and probably tested and tested) user interfaces it will be an experience! It already was an incredible user experience with the iPhone, so there’s no reason why the iPad should be worse?
By what we have seen so far, it will be THE new Gadget for surfing the web and consuming all kinds of digital media. The only question remaining, in my opinion, whether the market for an all internet surfing device is big enough, since the iPad does not replace laptops and mobile phones.
February 16, 2010 No Comments
