Happy 2017!
I’ve been considering buying an iPad Pro. I’ve always felt that the iPad is an "in-between" device that can’t fit my life well. But there is proof that the desktop is getting... deprecated. Here’s a good article from The Verge that talks about it.
Is it time to transition over?
By the end of 2016, many major websites saw traffic shift from desktop to mobile. Mobile has become the dominant form of computing for the every day consumer.
From a platform perspective, native apps started to transition over to web experiences. Hopefully, "Progressive Web Apps" will replace the generation of native content apps we have today.
What we didn’t seem to have gotten around in 2016 was to really question our approach to mobile and touch. Our approach remains primitive. We pick up interactions like "text editing" and try to retrofit mobile into it. We don't question the fundamentals to ensure the new experience fits well. I can’t help but feel that “keyboard covers” are a grave mistake.
Consider how someone uses a mobile device. He/she would be leaning back on a comfy couch, holding on to a tablet with both hands. Or, they may be standing in a crowded train, arm wrapped around a pole, trying their best to type with the two thumbs. The users' posture and environments above doesn't allow for a traditional editing experience.
We have to be more creative with the solutions we engineer. If we do transition well, these touch-first solutions should make us more efficient!
Also consider the change from a mouse to multi-touch. Direct manipulation of objects could be amazing. We see some of these interactions when we use apps for drawing, photo editing or maps. But more mundane tasks, like text editing, never seem to get much of a boost from touch. We seem to staying on safe ground with rows of buttons to carry out functions. We spend significant time manipulating and navigating between elements. Yet, these tasks tend to be not touch friendly; at least not enough to be more efficient.
It feels like we transferred the interaction to mobile, instead of converting the intent. We should be evaluating the purpose of every task and attempting to accomplish that in a "touch-first" way.
It seems that we have some ways to go before we get really good at mobile and touch. I’m hoping for a 2017 filled with ideas and techniques that shifts our thinking. I’m hoping we build products that are thought from a touch-first (or even touch-only) perspective.