Why a Nokia is easier to use than a Sony Ericsson

So. Regular readers will remember that I just got myself a Sony Ericsson K800i after a lifetime of Nokia devotion.

My wife just got a new Nokia 6300 and is ecstatic about it. I like my Sony Ericsson K800i very much because it looks good and feels good. But the interaction is a bit bonkers. The problem’s caused by the core design of the hard and soft control keys.

Here’s the keypad of the K800i.
Sony Ericsson K800i

It has 4 main control keys (outlined in red and blue, above) and a 5-way joystick.

Here’s the keypad of the 6300.

It has 4 main control keys (red and blue, again) and a 5 way joystick. Just the same. So they should be equivalently easy to use and learn. Here’s why they aren’t.

The number one function of a phone is to make and receive phonecalls. (Revenue figures prove this, however hard the mobile operators wish otherwise.) And making a call requires two key actions: call and hang up.

The 6300 has two keys dedicated to these fundamental action actions – outlined in blue.

The k800i has two dedicate keys too, but they are dedicated to something else: undoing actions. There’s a backspace key and a “go back” key.

So when someone calls me on my k800i – which key do I press? I have look at the screen and see. And when I want to hangup? I have to look again.

To hang up, you actually have to hit the right-hand key. But if the other party hangs up, it stops being the hang up button and turns into the menu button – because it’s a soft key. So if, out of habit, you press what was the hang up button to finish your call, you suddenly find you’ve called up the main menu. Oh dear. (Luckily, there’s a nice fixed “go back” button, and I can see why.)

Alan Kay, interaction designer extraordinaire, is famous for a key principle of interaction design: “Make simple things easy and difficult things possible.” The simplest thing a phone can do is make a call. But Sony Erisson have made going back simple, and making a call complex. Ooops.

Still, some of this is a matter of getting used to things. My brother in law told me he’s just got a Nokia N95 and he finds it difficult to use. He’s missing his Samsung!

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.