[Wing, P4350 ROM development] quicksite:
Re: T-Mobile's decision to use WM 6.1 in its brand new HTC TOUCH PRO 2 phone

This is just a comment I want to make that is related to the eternal question people have about any software at XDA:

"Which is better??"

The work that I have been doing on USABILITY TWEEKS for your 6.1 ROM has not been strictly for me only -- not at all. I've been prepping for the past 9 months for a new website that is catered to mainstream consumers to help with their pre-purchase decision-making about which touchscreen platform to use, which phone, which then translates into WHICH CARRIER, that fits their specific usage patterns. There will be tons of videos based on many pre-defined "CONSUMER PROFILES" of categories of users, and what they tend to use their phones for. .... Much to be said about this at a much later date.

But one of many issues I intend to blast through is the really bad myth that "whatever is newest must be better than previous".

My guess is that, just within the universe of WING/HERALD USERS, vast majority of people are gravitated toward the 6.5 roms here, due to this "newest = better" misconception. Though within this thread I have asked, and you have answered, several times, that for the apps I run, 6.1 (justStable) is a better choice for me performance-wise than 6.5 ... That's significant -- yet seemingly lost on a lot of people. WHy? because it's one comment-volley buried deep within an obscure thread at XDA where if you didn't know it existed, you would never find it.

MAYBE with "Search" ...

But my point here, based on the title of this post, is actually just the opposite. I find it strangely bizarre that T-Mobile chose not to use a 6.5 OS for their version of their newest phone which many consider to be one of HTC's best phone devices ever. And this choice is heavily criticized in many review sites like Endgadget, Gizmodo, and a host of others.

The final point I want to make here -- and i understand XDA-developers.com is not organized to be a place to dump one's philosophy or opinoons -- has to do with helping the XDA site members, and the public at large who are interested in tweeking their phones from their carriers' stock roms, to learn their USER INTERFACE OPTIONS for their devices.

So I AM using this post as a place to just capture my thoughts -- because usability design is my profession, and it is what I can offer this community, other than money donating to chefs.

• I think Touchflo 2 and 3 are obsolete UI systems in terms of usability. They look beautiful, and snazzy. But I'll map out my reasons another time. (Still, for anyone that wants & likes Touchflo, my desire is not to interfere with anyone's preferences.)

• I think the widget-based "Home Page" concept is creeping into the touchscreen "ecosystem", because it enables people to finally be freed up from the constraints of trying to find formatting tricks to get clocks and notifications and SMS and appointment reminders to display where you want them -- when using standard WM "Today" Screen or "HTC Home".

• Most promising examples I am seeing are:

[SEP 14] FEWidgets Ultimate 1.0b11 - (100% native code No Flash required)

and

• simo's	[09/09/2009] Androkkid 0.4.0 (Like Android User Interface)

• which raises the whole issue of platform directions: Android is criticized for being too slow right now, but favored due to open source AND this widget-based concept ...

• iPhone transformed the touchscreen phone world, and so far they are maintaining their icon-grid system for everything. Fair enough. And I like it a lot because it placed everything into same interface category as "clickable icon" -- whether what windows mobile would term a SETTING, or an APP, or a CONTACT link, or WEBSITE link.

• iFonz (from simo) was my preferred app launcher, and I wondered why Simo was abandoning it.. But I finally "got it" re Androkkid. In essence the iPhone-based icon-grid system of swiping pages is still the same principle behind Android's app launchers, and HTC's Sense UI, etc... But the addition is the widget based highly customizable home page.

• re Palm Pre -- I have not had experience with its UI -- other than seeing videos, and I do like it, but I haven't explored deep enough to know if their App Launcher concept is also, essentially, another variation of the iPhone icon grid system, just organized differently.

• skipping Blackberry, skipping SYmbian which is now dead anyway

• and finally ZUNE HD media player really shows what Windows Mobile 7 is most likely to be like... And it's got a pretty good conceptual idea behind it... with the feel of a ZOOM-IN interface where you go from general to more specific within a category of usage.

• The reason I think Windows 6.5 is totally worth skipping is that it is just smoke & mirrors. Yes it has improved a few menu-display elements.. But it's essential nature is a completely non-smart early implementation of what Zune HD has shown to be the new WM navigation concept -- the Zoom-in to virtual space interface.

So this is my spill-out post having to do with the whole landscape of WAYS TO GET THE BEST USAGE OUTOF A TOUCHSCREEN DEVICE. I find that the vast majority of people at XDA get fixated on

.. and the fluid movement aspects of those interfaces -- vs real usage of the device.

There is one site I stumbled upon in past 2 weeks which had the smart idea: Develop a series of use-case scenarios -- ordinary tasks one might perform in the course of the day.. And then compare how to accomplish those tasks using iPhone, WM (Htc touchflo, HTC home, etc), PalmOS, Blackberry, etc.

I'm talking like: TASK: I am at lunch and realize I need to find a gadget ASAP, so I want to find the nearest RADIO SHACK, then find pricing on the gadgets, then go there to get it.

This would most likely best be accomplished using Google Maps, then a web browser. But this kind of example is the REAL test of how well an interface works, how quickly you can access files, and enter text, and search, connect to web browser, etc

===== the end =====