GLOBAL – Kicking off our Design by Community project, we’re taking a look at display and user interface. We’ve outlined five options for you to choose from, each designed to play a significant part in how the device shapes up. Screen size is probably the biggest driver in a device’s size, particularly when you venture into full-screen touch devices. But that’s not the only consideration, we must also think about aspect ratio, and how we interact with the device – what kind of keyboard it should have and, particularly if it’s a touch device, how many buttons it needs. We spoke to one of Nokia’s senior industrial designers, Mikko Aarras, who gave us some insight into what needs to be considered around a device’s display and UI.
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Beyond the screen, there are a number of elements which need to be considered on the front of a device. Typically, at the top of you’ll find the front camera, ear piece and some other behind the scenes tech. Somewhere around the edge of the screen, most commonly at the bottom, space is needed for the display driver – the piece of tech wizardry which brings the display to life, turning it into a world of interaction. Much of this stuff we, as users, don’t actually get to see but they’re important factors to consider when it comes to planning a device.
Fancy a five-inch screen? Keep in mind that space will need to be kept up top for the ear piece and front camera and the bottom of the device will need to play home to the display driver. That five-inch screen is suddenly looking less appealing. Beyond that, we can take a look at whether the display should be capacitive or resistive (if it’s a touchscreen device). Given that one is glass and one is plastic, this choice plays a huge part in the manufacturing of the device and in particular how the device is put together. That’s not to mention the difference in thickness, with glass typically coming in at twice the thickness of plastic, if strength and quality are to be assured.
Around the display itself sits a empty area of about 3mm. Although borderless displays are starting to appear on large TVs this year, they’re still some way off mobile devices and until then, we have to contend with the additional empty area on a display. And there’s mounting. Nobody wants a device that’s going to fall apart after a week, so getting the mounting of the display right is crucial. Right now that typically involves a bezel to keep everything in place. As well as adding to the strength of the device, the bezel also makes assembly a more straightforward process.
The screen is rendered useless unless you have some way to interact with it. What kind of keypad for our concept then? Full QWERTY would be ideal but on a big-screen device will typically involve a slide or tilt and slide approach, such as the one used on the Nokia 97 devices. Perhaps a T9 keypad is sufficient? Or no keypad at all, instead forgoing physical keys for a touchscreen alternative. What would you choose? Beyond the keyboard there’s the question of what other physical keys are required. Let’s assume that we have volume/zoom keys taken care of, beyond the on/off button, do we need anything else?
Given that we don’t need to be constrained by current manufacturing methods (we are, after all working on a concept here) then we should think beyond current constraints and wait for technology to catch up. Whilst many of the challenges facing device creation today are driven by the technology that’s actually used in the device, just as many are driven by the need to be able to manufacture the device in a cost-effective and quality assured manner.
Talk to any of the designers at Nokia and their encyclopedic knowledge of how devices are put together makes you wonder whether you’re actually speaking to an engineer rather than a designer. Their ability to marry creative genius with genuine engineering insight is vital when you consider the challenge of creating a device that not only delivers on the needs and requirements of users, but looks good and is capable of being produced within myriad confining elements. You might think that creating the ultimate device is a simple process. We’ve distilled it into the simplest of elements, using basic choices and we’re still not even scratching the surface of what Nokia’s finest creative minds deal with day in day out. Hat’s off.
Have you submitted your Display and User Interface specs yet? Head over to Design by Community to get involved.
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Want to help design a Nokia smartphone concept?
Click here to begin
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