iPad Usability

What I got out of these two articles is that the user experience for iPads (and I would think tablets in general) still has a ways to go in terms of usability. I tend to agree more with the study than the rebuttal that usability should be standardized in at least some form. This doesn't mean that a designer cannot be creative, but the designer still has to take into consideration the ease of use. I'm a tablet user, and I find myself frustrated when a website tried to optimize itself a tablet, and makes the experience worse than the desktop experience. As for apps that are meant as a substitution for an existing website, I have found that if that app doesn't provide a better user experience than the website, I'll uninstall the app and just use the website.

As the study showed, there have been significant improvements in tablet ease of use for the web, but there is still progress to be made. Splash pages can be a bane of tablet (and phone) users. They rarely serve any purpose other than to give information about the app that you just downloaded, and the fact that it is something that will pop up every time you start that app is ridiculous. I'm also not a fan of using swipes on a website, even if it's designed for tablets. They rarely work as well as their app counterparts, as they often flow at a choppy rate instead of smooth like the app does (or at least should). Also, it should never be easy to accidentally click/select something!

I did like what was discussed about memorability. I'm an avid gamer, so for myself, remembering how something works once I've used it is usually not a problem. The only time it can become an issue is if the interface is overly complicated, which a tablet app shouldn't be.

It's good to see that the experience is improving for tablet users. This will become more and more important down the road as tablets become more available and common (they're reaching that $100 price point that will put them in more hands than ever before). If a designer can't adapt properly to that interface, they will get lost in the shuffle with those who do properly adapt.