Again with the BibleTech reflections... ok, so you are probably getting near tired of these, but really, there was a lot of good information that came through the presentations and networking. One of the conversations that I had was with a few of the folks at BibleTech (with the ears of other software and publishing houses nearby) in speaking about what users really want from electronic Bible readers.
There's one little problem, there are different buckets of users, and they want a different starting point. So I asked a question: since mobile is just one section of users, the paradigm of mobile use isn't the same as desktop or even book use, how about we start designing a Bible app from that different paradigm.
A few definitions so that we are all seeing this in the same (or as close to the same) light:
- Mobile: just speaking of devices that have a screen size smaller than 5in
- Mobile use paradigm: the goal is a task that can be completed quickly, and leads to other interactions that may or may not lead to a different technology or use (30 seconds versus 30 minutes)
So that be leveled, let’s start with what the process looks like:
Person sitting in a fellowship gets the call to open their Bible to John 3:16. There's some reading of the verse, then commentary. All the while, the only interface to the text is John 3:16.
Current Bible software says:
- Head the call to open bible
- Navigate to application
- Open book chooser, chapter/verse chooser
- Open another application (or feature to reader application) for notes
- Bookmark verse for later reference (notes usually not attached)
This sounds pretty simple. And in most cases, this is the process that we use when "thinking" about how to interact with content. Now, what if the user interface (UI) had us go into this differently:
- Navigate to application (or widget)
- Type in the reference(s) - yes, we can deal with multiple references at once here
- Select option to tag text (given preset tags of book, chapter-verse, date, and geolocation; can add custom)
- Small text field to write notes which are saved to an external file that can be read by other Bible, browser, or text applications
If you will, instead of starting at the point of "show me the text then go to where I want to go" (something how babes in Christ learn how to read the Word); we give folks a simpler interface (search box - think Google - and a list of recently used tags).
In speaking with those folks at BibleTech, the draw is that we want to expose people to that greater functionality such as commentaries, other languages, maps, etc., however the current user interface leaves a lot to be learned by users, which makes the user experience falter.
So my suggestion is that we simplify things. Starting from a search box (and this works for every mobile platform), from there, opening only the functionality that needs to be seen.
Now, this works for mobile devices better than it does for desktops (and to some degree laptops). When you are at those larger devices, you are sitting still for some period and working out something a bit more than casual reading. When the device gets smaller, the perception of functional time is different. You get on a mobile to get things done quickly, not just to read and browse. That being said, there are some elements of thinking like this which can be pretty powerful if given the attention to structuring data and simplfying.
I'll have to do some screens of how this would work out, but here and here are similar thoughts to what I've done on this meme previously. Who wants to take the first crack at doing something different?
And if you've read this far and think that this kind of approach might not be so good, take a look at what the Mozilla Firefox folks are proposing (Ubiquity/TaskFox). There's a lot that can happen when all we do is strip the conventional UI from the app, and start letting people use natural language to request functionality.
Labels: BibleTech, innovation, mobility, software, UI