[Sigia-l] Summer Reading - User Behavior Drove Phone Design

[Eric Reiss]

From: chris.fahey at behaviordesign.com
>Doesn't it make more sense that the Bell Labs people (who were not 
>famous for any lack of smarts) might have wanted the numbers to read 
>left-to-right and top-to-bottom just like normal text?

Chris is absolutely right.

A short version of the Bell keypad story can be found on Wikipedia
(at the end of this article):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial

Basically, the first touch-tone keypads were based on adding machine
layouts. However, user testing proved this to be confusing for the
vast majority of people; they had never used an adding machine and
thought the layout counter intuitive.

The worry that accountants and bookkeepers would dial too fast is
fallacious; this is the story behind the QWERTY keyboard, but not
keypads.

Here's a related story: In 1983, the Danes introduced the first
nationally recognized cash card, called the Dankort. The keypad
terminals used to enter PIN codes was based on the traditional
adding-machine layout (789 across the top row). Since then, mobile
phones have become so widespread that last year, Dankort started
replacing PIN terminals with new ones featuring the standard
telephone layout.

Since the original Dankort keypads worked perfectly well for over 20
years, and the new ones work fine, too, (when you've gotten used to
them), this serves as a perfect example of why a "standard" is not
quite the same as a "best practice".

Cheers,
Eric

E-Reiss & Associates
Copenhagen, Denmark
www.e-reiss.com