Rapid fire clicking feels more usable
In the late 90s, and really to some extent today, we as website creators have focused usability in terms of consolidating clicks. Many still hold dear to the notion that a desired user goal should only be three clicks away from a starting point, like the home page.
Especially in light of Web 2.0 advances, this paradigm has been rendered largely irrelevant when compared to websites that encourage scanning with continual quick clicks to maintain a rhythm of revealing new information along a desired information path.
This idea of less information and more clicks is at its extreme in the iPhone. Many critics have frowned at features that take as many as six clicks to get to. What they don't touch on is the pleasant experience of how little thinking needs to go into each of these clicks. With each "level" of information acting as its own widget, even as many as six clicks happen less painfully, and with less thought.
Making each new page state its own widget and drilling down quickly is a far more enjoyable process than having only three clicks to get to the desired function, but having to spend time reading through each screen and thinking about which option is the best next step.
Look for lateral navigation next
The largest drawback to the current version of the iPhone OS is also the biggest fault of designing a system completely built on widget usability: working between functions. As mentioned, working within a single function like phone, notes, photos, et cetera, is really optimized in terms of ease-of-use.
The trouble comes when I want to click back from Safari to the email message that linked me to a web page -- the only current way to do that is to go back to the home state, then to the email function.
Apple has obviously recognized this silo effect of functions in that anytime users leave one function for another, it will remember your last state; in other words, if I'm looking at an individual email and click a link to open a web browser, then need to go back to email, going back home and clicking email brings me back to that message where I left off, not at the top of the function.
The next trick that may truly and forever reinvent usability for both the phone and the web will be if Apple can invent a usable way to navigate between functions without having to "go home" first.
Time to think in terms of widgets
Apple certainly hasn't cornered the market on web or device usability, but they are showing us how powerful designing interfaces can be for ROI and the user experience when taken to the extreme.
Many brands use pieces of AJAX, Flash, or widgets to either complement sites with animation, work-around large or difficult navigation schemes or simply to market on social media sites.
Brands that really want to make their consumer conversation user-centered and hassle-free cannot ignore the lessons being learned in this visual interface. On the web, brand sites can take these conventions and turn lack-luster presences into highly usable interfaces that people with any level of education or experience can quickly navigate to reach goals.
The next time you look at your brand's interactive initiatives, think about how your brand presence splits into different user functions and navigation paths, then take the step Apple has shown us with the iPhone: widget-based usability as a win-win for everyone.
Michael Leis is VP of strategic services at Publishing Dynamics. Read full bio.