Searching for the next mobile interface paradigm?
25 March 2010
This breakfast workshop brought together key members of the mobile communications industry with a small number of academics, associates and friends of Brunel University.
The workshop’s key focus was 'Searching for the next mobile interface paradigm', and the discussion was developed around these themes and issues:
Open Innovation vs. Protection of Intellectual Property
Achieving IP protection is a minefield – expensive and sometimes ineffective. Is it possible to protect the characteristics of a mobile interface? The fact that IP protection is prohibitively expensive and risky is limiting innovation.
Open innovation is appropriate in some situations – and students are in an ideal position to develop ideas in these instances. In other models of collaboration, IP is owned by the company from the outset, and students sign confidentiality agreements.
It can also be difficult to do “blue sky” work between universities and mobile companies as large companies’ development moves at a very fast pace, by necessity, and results of investments need to manifest quickly.
User centred design, or design driven by technology?
User centred design is a challenge in this field, as it is often difficult to establish the user’s needs – they may not know what they want, or be able to imagine the possibilities.
As a result, innovation is often driven through the promotion and development of a new technology – how can the new platform be used? Mobile apps currently develop in a fairly organic fashion with much ongoing user feedback – could this also feed into hardware development?
User centred design is particularly critical when looking at specific user groups, particularly those who are not mainstream users of mobile technology, or those from different cultures with a significantly different use of technology. Effective marketing to these groups is essential.
Socially motivated projects, particularly those targeting under-addressed user groups may not be prioritised by companies who are guaranteed more reliable returns from existing markets.
Maximising the impact of Made in Brunel (MIB)
MIB has high value for outside companies. It gives access to ‘naïve resources’ – students with the benefit of fewer preconceptions and constraints, who are often closer to consumers. It also acts as stimulus for companies looking to create ‘positive turbulence’ by taking ideas from one field and applying them to another, or gain a new perspective through exposing themselves to different environments.
There are two key ways in which students could maximise the effectiveness of their connections with industry:
- Develop students’ network of relevant industry contacts prior to MIB and invite these individuals to MIB.
- Support students in presenting their ideas in a more polished way. Not necessarily using business jargon, but they need to be able to articulate their ideas clearly and anticipate likely questions.
There was discussion of an innovation or ideas café at MIB, where each table discusses an idea/question/challenge, with students to visualise ideas.
Next steps
The event proved to be a useful catalyst for developing an overview of interface design issues and the relationships between business and academia.
As a result of strong support for the value of enhancing direct links between students, their projects and business, Designplus hosted a forum for selected students to present their projects to a specially invited audience at this year's MADE IN BRUNEL exhibition (8-10 June 2010).
Watch this space for further details.