Design values are the key to a rich experience design. Design values that are defined based on the users needs make sure that the ideas are addressing the user needs. I have the six top design values that am considering in the ideation phase. Each of the following values are in line with what users expressed as needs. At the same time, there are some values that are not major when it comes to the users but help create a more desirable and enjoyable experience. Following are the sex deign values in this project and the process to find them.

After two months of research, observations and interviews, it is time to put all the findings next to each other and do a through synthesis that can help me find design opportunities. This is mainly from the interviews I did with users and the two workshops I had during the research phase. The idea is that to group the results and find the design needs based on the clusters that comes out if these synthesis.

This is a simple illustration of the process of finding the design opportunities. This project started as an open topic project. After weeks of open research I chose a couple of main topics to have a deeper research on. This provided me with a clear image of who the users could be and what each group of users need. After defining the users needs and expectations, it becomes more clear what a designer can do to meet those need. This will result in a set of principles that I call design values for this project.

Design values help me focus on the areas that can help users have a more desirable experience and also helps me keep the connection between my design ideas with the real users need and have solutions that meet those needs from the users.

Considering the world wide usage of mobile technology in different cultures, between different age groups and professions, the most appropriate way to group the target users was to refer to the digital life style in general and for mobile devices particularly. In my research and after the online survey it became very interesting to see the behavior of those that have a quite active digital life but never extend that to become mobile. For example a user that is very connected to the internet on his PC and is quite active when it comes to the digital behaviors like social networking however basic phone is the only thing he is using n the go. In simple language, I would not be necessary designing for text savvy teenagers or businessmen who need a powerful gadget that can do as much as technology can make happen for them. I am designing for the people that can benefit from having a mobile experience on the go and get away from having the current smartphones.

The first step in the process is to understand what users really need, desire and expect from a mobile experience. referring to the ongoing research I was doing from the begging of the project, I could better confirm the initial findings with the users that fall into my target group and this lead me to the top 6 needs. The needs that I am considering as a start point for my design:

NOT ANOTHER DEVICE TO MANAGE: Life is already fully invaded by the technology and for most of the users that is a question if there should be a limit on that. Users in this group are not all open to the idea of adding a new device to their complex life.

AVOID COMPLEXITY AND DISTRACTION: Too much of technology especially when it is not designed for the real needs of the user dose create an experience that is more a distraction from life for users. Adding the commercial requirement to these experiences make it way too complicated. Users have to disengage from the world around them to engage with their mobile device. This becomes more important for the on the go experience.

MISSING PERSON-PERSON COMMUNICATION: Text messaging, emails, voice calls, Instant messaging and ... these are all communication methods that technology provided the users with yet there is something missing here: "the way we naturally interact without technology".

BETTER CAPTURE AND INPUT ON THE GO: Small size of the mobile devices and also the context they are being used in makes the input and capture experience a task that is time consuming, distracting and not always properly done. An example is the way users write text messages on the go and how that could be an undesirable experience for most of the users

BOTH SIMPLICITY AND RICHNESS: The target group in this project still prefer the simplicity of the basic phones and at the same time understand the need of a rich device for some tasks. What is not attractive to them on current smart phone devices is the rich interface that needed to be used for basic tasks.

LESS TECHNOLOGY TO HANDLE: Technology is never close to the way users live in a natural world. Users need to make an emotional connection with the technology. mobile devices are very personal and most of the users make an emotional connection to the mobile devices during time. Still the mobile device is just a piece of plastic and a digital screen and nothing more.

MOBILE AS AN EXTENSION TO THE DIGITAL LIFE: Users don't really like the idea of adding an extra device to their daily life. Design need to be in a way that using a new device dose not create a new need to manage a totally new device . Mobile could be an extension to what the users digital life is made of. A mobile device dose not need to be a new operating system, it could be just the scaled down version of what the users digital life is on multiple devices he already uses and from the services he is involved in on the cloud.

ACCOMPLISHING TASKS vs USING APPS:Design needs to be considering what the natural UI mapping means the users. Using apps is all dictated by the industry based on commercial and marketing strategies, yet this system is working for most of the users today. What design can do is to create an experience that is closer to what users want: "accomplishing goals". The less users become involved in apps the more natural the experience would be to do a task.

RE-DEFINE COMMUNICATION EXPERIENCE: Design can make the communication more meaningful, natural, emotional and real. I believe we can be inspired by human to human interaction in a technology free environment and find values that could be added to the digital communication. This is a more attractive experience for the users especially the target group in this project.

MORE NATURAL INPUT AND CAPTURE METHODS: The input methods and capture tools on the mobile device can change the way we use them. Designing the a more natural inout experience that allows users to be less engaged with the device has a huge impact on the experience of using a mobile device. Mobile devices today are more of an output device than an input device simply because the input and capture methods are not natural and intuitive enough for the users.

RIGHT RESOLUTION FOR RIGHT TASK: Design needs to provide users with the right resolution depending on the users goal. That dose not mean that the device has to be basic, it means that the design could be in a way that for basic tasks, users interact with basic tools on a device that has high capabilities for rich interaction.

EMOTIONAL/NATURAL INTERACTIONS: Design needs considers the emotional connection between the user and the mobile device and think of the mobile device more than just a piece of plastic and a digital screen. Mobile devices become very close to the users as they are always with the user and can be used for years.

Knowing what to consider when designing for users needs is a key to a user centered design approach. The big part of this project was to come up with design solutions that address what users desire. The transition from research findings to something that makes sense in concept development is very crucial. We cant design to meet all the requirement is a perfect way, so there is also a need to choose the tope design principles and make the rest as "nice to have". I decided to work with six topics that I prioritized after a short workshop with a group of experts. The next step after defining the users needs and associated design needs is to find the design values that the experience will need to have.

Mobile device design is a very big topic and could be extended to many aspects of life. This project is not aimed at designing a new device that doe what current mobile devices do today. Rimino is meant to be a guideline for designing the future mobile experience. The way I approach this topic was by exploring ideas that fit into users need and later using those ideas to find the design principles and guidelines. This project is not about designing a concept that tells users what they can do and what they will have to experience and is about introducing the new tools that can be used for new behavior.

Often it turns into a total failure when an experience is designed to the end point and it is expected that the user follow what you thought they would do and be feeling the way you intended. A successful design approach would be to define an experience and create tools that help users have that experience the way they want it to be. In this project my intention is to introduce those tools and demonstrate what users could do if they where given theses tools as apposed to telling the users what they have to do to.s

Do we need to design a whole new experience? Do we need to completely change the way we use our mobile devices? Are we gonna necessarily come up with a better ideas and create a more desirable experience by dramatic changes? I believe when it comes to Design challenges like these. the details within the experience are playing the most important role. The amount of value we can add to the experience just by improving the details could be more than any revolutionary idea.

Not having to deal with a new device and also being able to keep the same experience across multiple devices the same and continues is a design value that can create a new experience and defines a new set of usage for the mobile device. Needs as simple as a basic synch between the personal computer and the mobile device are not fully met by todays on mobile devices. With our data all stored in the cloud, it makes a better sense to stop thinking about the devices as individuals and instead consider the whole digital life as one which is available on multiple devices in different context.The challenge here is to design in a way that this experience would be seamless, rich and valuable to the users. It is basically more than an automatic synchronizing across devices.

User's mind dose not work the way apps are developed. Users think of a goal and the tools to achieve the goal, then they figure out the steps or start exploring the ways to do the task. Todays mobile devices follow a different pattern which is not in line with the users mental model. This is a bigger problem specially when users are using mobile devices in the context that tasks need to be don in a short time and with a minimum attention.

Interaction with a device that provides you with the tools to accomplish the task and let user be free from apps is an ideal interaction model which is closer to the human mental pattern. Designing such a system in a perfect way might be a challenge but the closer the interaction model gets to the mental model, the more value added to the experience.

What if the communication between users on mobile devices could be more expressive? what if we could include other the what we use in a face to face communication in our digital communication? Making it more natural and more similar to the way we have been always used to interact with eachother.

This is a big opportunity and will be a great value to redefine the communication and add tools to the mobile device that can create a new communication experience that is more that what we just have today. The most valuable design inspiration here would be the face to face interaction between people in different contexts.

How do we make input more natural? do we need to type things? dose voice work well always? how users can capture things on their mobile devices in a more intuitive way? The size and limitation in use of sensors has made the input more of a hassle today. I believe that technology has provided us with the new opportunities for input/capture and if designed well, that can be a change how we use mobile devices today. Think of inputting things more than just letter and number sand capturing thing more than location, images and voices!

An experience that is rich and yet can turn into a basic one for basic tasks is more valuable to the users than a device that is complex and always hight resolution even for the basic tasks. There is something nice about being able to have those physical buttons on the phone when making phone calls and there is some value to be able to check a website while you are on the phone. Having these two experiences on one device make the devices richer in terms of the experience. This is a design value that could be achieved at the interface level and the form factor level.

How would be like if your phone could behave? How would be like if you could actually interaction with your phone in a way you do with an alive creature? The value is this concept is that if the mobile device was more lively the interaction with it would have been different and this can provide new applications for a device that is more than just a piece of plastic. Besides the experience would be more attractive when the phone can behave!

From what I have observed in the last few years, when a new technology is introduced we are all exited about the new possibilities and forget about the user and the experience for a while and just try to make new things happen new matter what. This is good in a way but normally as the technology advanced further we have another opportunity to refine the design and make the experience more human like and less technology influenced. This is happening in mobile industry as well. We used to be really excited about the new possibilities of touch screen that we forgot that many of the new behaviors are totally technology and not what we are used to as human being. later accelerometer was added to most of the touch screen devices and creates a new opportunity to do more natural and human like behavior with our mobile devices.

As designers we have the opportunity to be fascinated by both people and technology and look at the technology with a more humanized eye. That means that we can define how technology come into the life and how we interact with it. We consider the user and our task is to design for the user and their needs. We create systems and behaviors around technology and it is our job to define how technology behaves, feels and looks like. The perfect integration of technology in our life is when the technology is invisible. invisible is not necessarily about the look but is also about the behavior. this is my goal in this project to make the technology less visible and more integrated in life.

Even though, this project is not about defining the details of the form of the product, I need to use a form factor that matches the design values of the experience. The more I reflect on my research and observation the more I was convinced that I need to make this product look less "techi"" and more craft. I started making the device with my hand and out of foam and leather and used a paper on top that represents the e-paper. I think i put my feeling into building this product and I am happy with the way it looks and feels.

Another step in making the technology less visible and more integrated is to use a low resolution medium as output like e-ink. E-paper is not a solution here, it is a suggestion that helps better communicate the design values in the experience. The feel of e-paper fits better into what I believe this experience is about. Besides, the advancement in technology has made it possible to have high performance e-papers that we never thought of before.

The above images show a similar interface (train schedule), one on an iphone with glassy UI and the other one on the e-paper screen and in the form of print. This is just to show that with the help of technology we can interfaces that look less technology influenced and more similar to what we used to deal with before.