Convergence catch-22

Donald Norman in his “ask Don” postings:

Today simplicity, tomorrow convenience. Tomorrow convenience, the next day simplicity.

Jack of all trades, master of none. Certainly this is no new topic- combining gadgets and gizmos into one ubiquitous swiss army device that will allow us to always have the right tool at our finger tips. But when it comes to designing an interface, is this a catch-22 that will always swing like (as Donald implies) a pendulum?

I admit, if you’re going to start “converging” somewhere, the cell phone seems like the best place start. It has supplanted any need I have for a land line and it’s just as acceptable sitting on the desk of my office as it is at the gym or home or anywhere else I might be. What could be more admirable for us to create a better user experience than to reduce the amount of devices (DAP, phone, PIM, Pager) in to one single device? So the makers have long since begun shoehorning all this functionality into our phones under the lofty goal of convergence. Software afterthoughts under the guise of simplifying our lives.

If only our lives were more simple. In addition to telephony, we have PIM, voice recording, cameras, music player, web browsers, clocks, games, and email.. just to name a few. The UI to use these features is almost always an afterthought greatly hindering any desire to type out an email while waiting in line at the post office. Our lives are in fact more simple, but only because we do not use these features. My phone almost exclusively is for making phone calls, and unfortunately, all the other features manage to get in the way of even that basic task.

There are plenty of advancements that are helping us along: prediction software, and tiny QWERTY keyboards first come to mind, but in general, trying to get so many features into a single UI is decidedly a poor choice for the user experience if for no other reason than there may be too many or not enough buttons as you change the application of the device- the mapping is never the same from application to application.

Another convergence example that is (was) well intended, the fingerworks touchpad keyboard is a great idea. This is a flat keyboard (no keys, just a graphic) that you can either type on or mouse move (like a touchpad). I HATE moving back and forth between the keyboard and the mouse. A friend of mine paid the high price for one, and I couldn’t resist having a go at it. After one session, I realized how important the feedback of the keyboard click is and abondonded thoughts of selling my first born to acquire one.

So the current status quo for successful devices and products is: KISS and master your trade. The iPod is notorious for keeping a simple, uncluttered interface. There are tons of small details I think would make the iPod easier for me to use but realize that that it would probably require a button or two- or more digging through drill down menus. Overall, the iPod is successful because it has mastered its trade without trying to be all devices (the visceral aspects also help a great deal as well).

The pendulum continues to swing because it is heading towards two goals that aim to make our lives simple, but are divergent. Where will the future of interface design take us? Should we be thinking about ways to converge devices? Or is simply getting them all to talk (a bluetooth like world) be the best solution? What devices do you know of (like cell phones) that have the best compromise of features and simplicity?

A catch-22? Or can a future interface give us both sides of the pendulum?