Mobile Ministry Magazine

This past Saturday, I kept up with the Bible Software Shootout as many who were in attendance were tweeting about the happenings. One thing I can say about whatever that was happening there, it looks like a lot of the major software developers really got the point that the user interface of a Bible application means nothing if people cannot simply get in the Book.

This attetion to user interface design is totally a by produt of the impact that the iPhone has made on the entire computing industry. That's not to say that many software products and services don't suffer through feature-itis. Many do and will continue to. But, it is to say that there are some areas where people are getting it, and one of them just happens to be within the realm of mobile bible software.

So let me ask you this simple question: when you are ready to read a verse/passage in your Bible, how many steps does it take between you thinking about it and you getting there? How many steps after you've gotten to that verse/passage does it take for you to do the next thing (meditate, journal/bookmark, send it to a friend, etc.)? Its these kinds of questions that software developers think about often when they are developing the software that you like. And you know something, there are a lot of answers that they come up with. The simplest one though is always the hardest to pull off - keeping your eyes in the text.

This is something that paper books have a lock on. Its easy, you read, highlight, pull another book from the side to make a note, but the text is still there. No matter where you go, you must face the book in order to engage the text. The user interface is that simple.

And so here's my challenge and exortation to those who were at that challenge, and those who are developing other software Bible solutions: What can you do with your product to keep a person's eyes in the text of Scripture while still offering the featurs that enable you to differentitate from your competitors? Because if you can do that, then it won't matter what version(s) you offer, or even the cost of your product. People will be drawn to the text - and therefore to engaging with God. Drawing people to Him, will bring in the sales and solutions you seek.

Labels: Bible, innovation, reading, resources, software, UI

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

I was just looking at an article at Nokia Conversations about 2009 being the year of widgets and had the idea of a new widget. With the N97 Widget Compeition going on, this was quite timely. Then, I realized something, searching for a Bible verse, or saved bookmark, should really be this simple. I'd submit one for the competition, but then also share about its idea here and maybe get a few consolidation votes ;)

First off, when you think about looking up a Bible verse (whether print or digital) its always think and go. One of the frailties of mobile computers is the fact that in addition to thinking and going, you have to also open an application, and then navigate to some kind of search or index (book menu, bookmarks, or find).

Well, I started to think; what would be easier? Personally, a widget on my phone's front screen would be prefable. But that widget would have to make it really simple.

So I developed this with the idea that all you want to do is search, and it should not matter if you are looking for a verse from an application on your device or a Bible website that you prefer. That you might even have that verse saved as a bookmark somewhere like YouVersion, and all you want to do is retreive it.

Let's take a step back now. Widgets are simple programs. They do one thing only, and they are designed to minimuze the friction from thinkning about something to doing it. Many of us are familiar with widgets - Weatherbug, the clock on your desktop, etc. The idea being that when something happens, all we want to do is know about it. The more indepth things of making notes, bookmarking, etc. are left for full applications. Essentially, every Bible reader should start here, and then build the experience.

Now, about this widget. My ideal widget would allow for this to be configured to work with every Bible website and application that could be loaded on a device. That it would index all of the verses, bookmarks, and tags used, and only those would be searchable from this interface.

And if you think about 90% of the time you are sticking your hand out for a Bible, this would be it. You type the verse, it opens a popup to that verse with an additional button that says "Go to 'x' Application" or "Go to 'x' Website." That's it.

Now, for those who are students of the Word, and would like to do things like add the ability to mark a verse as favorite, add notes, highlight, etc. Nope. Not happening here. This is only meant to be short, simple, and to the point.

To developers, open your Bible application's APIs so that something like this could plug into it. You don't lose sales by allowing for something like this, and essentially, you open the door for more people to know about and learn about your application.

What are your thoughts? If not you, could you see someone really liking something simple like this?

By the way, the N97 Widget Competition is going on until February 27, 2009 (drawing on march 13th); winning prize is a new Nokia N97 mobile device. All you have to do is make an image of your widget idea and submit it.

Labels: innovation, Nokia, software, UI, usability, UX, widget

One of the new aspects of play that I have had with mobile devices lately has come through the Nokia N95 and a piece of hardware/software called the accelerometer. The Accelerometer is basically a sensor within the device that senses when it has changed positions on the X, Y, and Z-axis and then orients the screen accordingly.

Those of you with the iPhone will know this feature as being the same thing as when you hold the device in its normal portrait mode, but then tilt to landscape for web or email viewing. The N95 also has this feature, and its something that when I unlocked it with a few applications, it got me thinking again about mobile Bible readers.

One of the common issues I hear with mobile bible readers is the screen resolution. For many people, the text is too small to read, but just right to look up a phone number (go figure). For some others, the buttons are designed for quick presses and therefore are uncomfortable for a reading mode.

Some browsers have seen this issue and have adopted a pan and zoom feature. For example, Opera Mini, Nokia's S60 Web Browser and Apple's Safari Mobile have this feature where you can view the whole of a web page as it would look on a desktop, but then zoom in to a section that you'd like to read.

The benefits of this is that you get some of the feel of the large page, but the compactness of the content fitting the screen that you are looking at. Now, what if that same idea, plus the accelerometer were applied to a mobile bible reader.

Let's give a usage case and then hear some thoughts from you:
- Open the Bible Reader and you are presented with two panes: last read verses and recent bookmarks
- Clicking on Last Read Verses you are taken to a zoomed out page with the focus square (the area that you can zoom into) on the verse that you chose
- The view is a nearly traditional four column, 42-line view (mimicing the page view that many are familiar with)
- Zoom in and the content is reflowed to fit the mobile screen for that specific verse with a line from the previous verse and a line from the next verse if the screen permits
- To scroll one tilts the device up or down, moving the Bible a verse up or down (an optional setting to allow it to move an entire screen, multiple verses, or off)
- For added fun, tapping the camera will indicate that a bookmark is to be made for that verse and a new screen pops up with that specific dialogue

Again, this is just a thought after having played with the programs FlipSlient and RockNScroll on my N95. What do you think of immersing the electronic bible reading experience with a few subtle actions such as described above?

Post created with alpha version of WordPy for Internet Tablets (please excuse any formatting issues)

Labels: Bible, iPhone, iPod Touch, N95, seminary, software, UI

Hope that most of you are having a good weekend and summer. I want to continue a bit on the subject of creating an ideal Bible reader by taking a look at a concept user interface (UI) that I created some days ago.

What you see here is a wireframe design of a UI for a touchscreen (PDA or Internet Tablet) or large screen (think laptop/desktop) computer. The the basic premise is that most of the time, we just want to read. But there are levels of interaction with the content that we'd like to explore, and thankfully, many in the Bible software and open source software communities have made available. This is just a more functional (and given some graphics, prettier) UI than what anything else offers that I've seen personally.

I got the idea of this from watching part two of Adaptive Path's series on the Aurora Concept. The Aurora Concept is a vision of UI and user experience (UX) web design that's projected for 5-7 years out. This takes into consideration only that the web is more ingrained into our lives, and that software works together with the live world around us to offer more compelling interactions with content and with one another. Simply speaking, I saw the video and it clicked.

My reasons are putting it out here (meaning the Internet) are many-fold. For one, I'd like to get some feedback for this kind of interface for a Bible reader. Many of you who read MMM are publishers, developers, and content creators/editors in the Christian space and therefore your input towards what might be missing or not clearly stated in these wireframes is very important.

To those of you who are academics, pastor-teachers, or just laypersons who like to read and study the Word electronically; this is an opportunity for your opinions to be heard given this skeleton of a mock up.

It is my hope that this can encourage us as a Body to start looking at the greater impact that the Internet has and will continue to have in the lives of those who utilize a much more connected and mobile paradigm of living than what humanity has had before. Yes, we can preach moderation and appropriate use, but we can also model usability that doesn't take away the older concepts of living, listening, and enjoying those quiet moments when we just need God and His Word.

Its not explicitly my hope for this to turn into an application. However, I have presented this to a few people and the response has been quiet encouraging that this is in line with what people are looking for. Having not the time to learn how to develop this, I'd probably be looking to the developer communities of various device operating systems to see if this can be turned into something that makes possible what I last spoke on - a common user experience framework, but designed within the scope of the system and the device.

The last thing that I'd like to state is this: this is by no means a project that a commerical entity should not be interested in. The feedback given on this Bible Reader Concept should be a help towards developing a more fluid system of reading and studying the Word given publisher and device constraints. After all, we are in this to help people read the Word more and see Christ interlaced into their lives. Demonstrating this literally in mobile software would be an excellent witness, wouldn't you agree?

Labels: Bible, community, Hardware, internet tablet, mobility, open source, reading, software, teaching, UI, UX