When I think of Rolex, I think luxury, quality and style. But I also think of an older demographic, that sticks to print. So I’m glad to see Rolex taking a step in a fresh and innovative direction. If print becomes more interactive in various ways, it could become even more interesting than a purely digital magazine. (see my previous post about a video player embedded in an issue of Entertainment Weekly) Hopefully, other luxury brands will follow and increase mobilized print ads in consumer publications.

The ad itself relies on pure image recognition. The way it works is that readers can snap a photo of the ad, send the pic to an email address and get more information as well as an entry into the cash sweepstakes.

Moving forward, print publications could offer readers a companion mobile app to make the interactive experience even easier. A magazine app could just require the user view the ads and use image recognition via the users device as opposed to emailing it. This would also allow the magazine to harvest valuable demographic info. Finding out exactly who is reading the ads would be a great pitch to attract new advertisers not previously considered.

Making print ads interactive (regardless of the method) is a good way to inject print magazines with more life and prop up the whole publishing industry.

Inwindow Outdoor, a company that does digital storefront and mall advertising, launched the interactive augmented reality display at Los Angeles’ The Grove, to promote the Blu-ray release of “Avatar.” The display is a free-standing structure of multiple digital screens. Using technology developed exclusively for this project, shoppers faces are morphed into the wide-eyed blue creatures from the film. Once the morph is complete, users can enter their email address via touch screen, in order to be sent a video of their transformation, along with information on where to purchase the Blu-ray disc of the movie.

Down the road, this will be able to happen via a mobile. Imagine getting a message from a friend with their facial expression (or their kids or boss or pets) mapped to a branded character. This is a great way to build a buzz for any animated or costumed character-driven film – think Iron Man or Shrek. Send it to yourself, friends and family and some transformations are sure to go viral when they hit the social networks.

The display was introduced last Friday and set to run for a month – if you’re in L.A., check it out.

This is the key to the future of advertising – letting the consumer specify what they want and delivering relevant ads. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts addressing ad personalization, why not target consumers with a product they are likely to buy?

In addition to serving the consumers, this gives advertisers the ability to serve better ads. Targeted spots will be more enjoyed and appreciated when they’re given to the perfect audience.

Additionally, consumers can reveal demographic information in exchange for special offers, coupons, deals, or less ads. In return, advertisers get valuable stats on their audience and consumers get even better results from their mobile user experience.

The ability to gift an app will not only increase purchasing by viral recommendation, but it gives consumers a way introduce reluctant friends, relatives or coworkers to specific apps they like. And more obscure/unique apps have a greater chance of catching fire this way – what consumer would turn down the chance to download a freebie accompanied by a recommendation from someone they trust.

A New York Times article also points out that app gifting is good news for developers. Apple provides a limited number of promo codes that can limit getting products to the reviewer community. And developers can identify evangelists, people most likely to spread the word, and seed that community with apps.

I’d like to see the gift-giving ability extended to in-app purchases so additional levels or content could be given to other users. Also, for multiple gift purchases, users should be able to get a deal or discount. A shared wishlist would accompany gifting very well.

The new “Gift This App” option is alongside the “Add To Wishlist” and “Share Via Facebook” menu items in the dropdown that appears next to the price of any app.

PixyMe is an iPhone/iPod Touch app that uses image personalization. Users can send or share photos via the usual social media channels. The twist is that you can then have your image printed on a postcard and mailed with a stamp anywhere in the world. You don’t need a personal image – the app will integrate a name, word or short phrase into an object within a stock photo – making it look like the words were written in leaves or as fireworks in the sky. Click here to try it out with your name. At $1.99, PixyMe is consistently a best seller for Apple.

You’ve heard me say that successful apps can’t just make use of cool technology or look pretty. PixyMe is a perfect example of a smart app that fits a real-world need. How many times have you been on a trip and wanted (or promised) to send a postcard but you forgot?

The whole stamp/mailbox thing is such a hassle but everyone loves getting non-junk mail. And the personalization angle is great for family, friends or even as a business tool. A feature to remember contact groups – like friends, family, coworkers – would make reuse of the app even easier.

A good idea would be to offer discounts for bulk mailings – instead of sending one card, you could send the same image to multiple contacts. A feature to remember contact groups – like friends, family, coworkers – would make this easier and encourage use over and over. For example, I’d pay extra for the convenience of being able to mail out a holiday card if I missed the deadline to go the standard print route.

Some additional features ideas could be special offers that kick in based on holidays around the world, discounts for promoting PixyMe on Facebook, Blog or Twitter or maybe a sweepstakes for the most creative use of the PixyMe app.

Each mobile demo/prototype was designed around experiences where Flash Lite and Nokia devices a great fit. These include rich media, personalized experiences, social media, photo sharing, location based information, music, news, video, advertising and marketing.

The demos were designed to be shown as-is, without additional work as well as to be modified easily. Use them to quickly present a concept internally or to pitch outside clients.

One of the main goals of each demo is the ability to be able to easily reskin each mobile user interface. Each demo is designed so that the user interface elements as well as the background can be changed in a matter of minutes.

The tutorials in the series can be used alone or together and cover the following types of content:

• Video Player – Play an external FLV video file in both landscape and portrait mode
• Music Player – Play external mp3 audio files
• RSS News – Read and display RSS feeds
• Social Media – Leverage Twitter for promotional purposes
• Photostream – Display Flickr photos
• Event Info – Use to market an event, make phone calls, and initiate pre-written SMS messages
• LBS Coffee Finder – Leverage GPS location and Google Maps to find the nearest coffee shop

MocoNews reported on a Google blog post about how the company is beginning to monetize the mobile version of the video site. Banner ads will show up on the home, search and browse pages of YouTube when accessed via mobile. Meanwhile, AllThingsDigital.com linked to an editorial about the hatred for pre-roll video as well as its effectiveness. If pre-roll ads are to become the norm, why not design the mobile video ad experience to be intelligent and adaptive?

Why not combine pre-roll with dynamic content tailored to the users? Not everyone needs to see the same pre-roll ad. I’d answer more questions to reveal demographic information in exchange for seeing less ads. If not less, I’d definitely prefer to see an ad of interest to me – like movie trailers - rather than the many makeup commercials I’ve been forced to endure before watching online videos recently.

I’ve recently seen Hulu offer short surveys in exchange for an ad free episode. The experience was hassle free.

Multiple pre-rolls could be created to serve different demographics – male teenagers see video game previews, new parents would get baby products, affluents would get luxury commercials, etc.

So why not give users ads that they want? Targetted ads will result in better ad spends and more purchasing.

Basically, users scrawl a letter (or “alphabet gesture” as Google Labs calls it) on the touch screen to bring up a contact, app, music file or bookmark from a list of hundreds or even thousands on your Android phone. The mobile user interface eliminates the need to type in certain cases.

While the gesture feature is currently for searching only, this opens up lots of possibilities for interesting mobile user interface design possibilities for Android. The API could be opened up so that anyone writing Google apps could make use of ‘common’ gestures.

Universal gestures could be explored that could be used across any app.

Imagine that there’s a ’send to the Google cloud gesture’ and a piece of content you’re interacting with could automatically be sent to the appropriate cloud service. For example, you receive a document, gesture it, and it ends up stored in your Google Docs. Or the ability to gesture a phone number on a site and save it in Google voice would make interacting with Google cloud services easier.

I’m happy to see Android evolving and opening up the door to explore more touch based user interface design options. It’s a good time to experiment before rigid standards make their way into the mobile user interface design community.

Location-based game start-up Booyah is introducing in-game, virtual goods placements, based on your real-time location. The Mobile User Experience Design will lead consumers right to the cash register of a “real” store selling real goods for very real cash.

The campaign stems from Booyah’s partnership with international clothing retailer H&M but this could apply to ANY consumer campaign – from liquor to cars to network television. This particular promotion pings mobile users near an H&M location on a piece of clothing or accessory that appears in Booyah’s MyTown location-based social game. Discounts and promotions reward the Booyah user that visits the actual store location.

Here are some ideas I have for additional location based campaigns. Again, any consumer campaign could benefit.

Users could be rewarded with free virtual goods if they spend a certain amount of time inside a retail location. The goods should have a high value perception and be unique to that store. If the user wore or showed off or used a virtual item in a social network, they could get real world discounts on that product line.

The biggest fans of a company – the ever valuable influencers – could receive limited edition virtual that are exclusive or awarded before general public release.

Feedback about the unique product could be analyzed and the most popular ones could turn into physical products.

Another way to engage users (and potentially spark a viral campaign) would be to give the consumers tools to design the next generation of virtual product ala crowdsourcing. Implement a voting aspect and social network exposure to build buzz. Winners could get a high value prize and their creations could turn into physical goods. Imagine a fashion oriented tween designing virtual fashion items and being rewarded for it.

Unique mobile user experiences and advertising seem to be made for each other – mobile is also a great bridge between the physical and the virtual. I’ll be watching the H&M campaign with interest.

I tend to be a fan of anything that enhances creativity and inspires sharing – which was our main goal in designing their mobile user interface. Some very useful features include automatic face and motion detection, different style choices, and syncing photos or videos to the beat of the music the user chooses. For example, you can choose a high-energy theme that would effect the pace, presentation and style of your creation.

The muvee video editor is a pretty compelling case for OEMs as well as carriers. Today’s consumers shoot tons of video but what do they do with them? The underlying algorithms take most of the work and thinking out of the creative process, making this a greatly useful tool for designing a mobile experience. Rather than spending hours attempting to create a professional video, creating and sharing can be accomplished within minutes. In this way, consumers will be more likely to create and share more often, especially on the go. Also, due to their patented algorithms muvee has a natural edge in the industry.

muvee will present this Android project at Barcelona Mobile World Congress the week of February 15th. Visit muvee at Mobile World Congress in Hall #1, Booth 1F06 to check out their cool product and see the Android prototype we designed for them.

We print out designs on glossy photo paper to mimic the look of the screen and to see our design with pixel-level detail. Spending time on the details in the beginning of a job is paramount in designing a successful mobile user interface.

Viewing an image of a mobile device on a computer screen doesn’t give an accurate representation of the finished mobile user interface design. The pixel density (pixels per inch) are much higher on a mobile device. When we don’t have access to hardware, our solution is to design the mobile user interface at real size in terms of pixels on a computer and then scale it down and print on photo paper at the real size the screen will be on the hardware. This gives us the real size that an image will be on a mobile device.

Using this method we can see if the layout and fonts work. It’s critical to determine if the user interface will be functional with big enough fonts and clear user interface elements.

This is also very handy when we’re designing for touchscreen mobile user interfaces as spacing is another issue that is distorted on a large computer monitor but solved by printing out. We can test to see if any user interface elements overlap and see if we need to adjust them for the mobile device.

Printing out our design also makes it possible to present our mobile user interface concepts to our client to give them a more accurate feel for the design. It also helps them in their presentations (remember the missing hardware…) We’ve seen our photos used in the past presented on plastic model prototypes. It was cool to see as people would dissect the interface and analyze it as if it was digital.

I’d love to hear any other User Interface Design challenges you face and you solve the problem.

The website copy claims that inkpop.com will connect “rising stars in teen lit with talent-spotting readers and publishing professionals.” And that “members play a critical role in deciding who will land a publishing contract with HarperCollins.”

Pretty brilliant on the part of HarperCollins – they enlist the help of a narrowly targeted community to vet aspiring writers. My guess is that a teen who totally into literature these days might feel slightly isolated. So I’m happy to see a social networking site bringing kids together that promotes reading and writing.

This is perfect for mobile. Teens today can’t imagine a world without their mobile device and if this catches on, mobile apps to enhance the site will probably happen quickly.

HarperCollins is also benefiting from the ability to grab key demographics and has a perfect forum for targetted advertising. If the inkpop model catches on, I image it will move beyond a teen-only site. After all, it’s just teens that are reading a certain off-the-charts popular vampire series, right? And those books weren’t written by a teen but by a stay-at-home mother of three.

It will be interesting to see how other companies create interactive forums and social networks that enable their future suppliers as well as consumers.

Miguel says “We have to study what the aim of the user of this type of clothing to design the better option to these people.” Sometimes stakeholders in projects have difficulty in distinguishing what they want in an app versus what a user wants. A user-centered approach is frequently the key to the success (and profitability) of an application. Do you constantly put the user in the forefront when designing for mobile?

How will your app be used in a variety of situations? Our bulletproof tailor does. Caballero looks at how the garment will be used – internally, externally, in a hot climate and a cold climate. What’s the context of how the user will be using your app. Walking? Driving? In a loud restaurant? In a quiet location. In a bright park? In a dark theater? In emergencies? In the car or at the office? Think about every possible situation and consider every option. Do you think about multiple contexts when designing for mobile?

Miguel involves everyone in his product testing. He requires all employees to wear the clothing and then he shoots them. Are you utilizing feedback from all your stakeholders for mobile design?

Shooting his employees is the way Miguel exercises “quality control”. It’s a great idea to involve everyone in your process. I’m a big fan of kaizen from a design as well as business standpoint. Are you always trying to improve your mobile design projects?

Being on top of social and lifestyle trends is critical when designing mobile user experiences. Miguel has plans to expand and market to the hip-hop community. Are you leveraging social trends when designing your mobile user experiences?

So take a lesson from a Columbian tailor – know your audience, design for them, involve everyone in testing, keep up on trends, and think outside the box.

Welcome to the next generation of street viewing. I’m sure the live video is amazingly helpful in the Haiti situation but I can’t help thinking about how much it opens up mobile design possibilities.

Real estate, the arts and education are just a few of the industries that will be enhanced by 360-degree video. Save time, save money and avoid hassle – I can’t see a downside and I can’t wait to see what is next for live video.

I’m fascinated with the way many emerging technologies are so compatible. Combine Augmented Reality and live 360 video for amazing immersive mobile user interfaces.

Consumers will love it but advertisers are going to flip over the insane amount of organic advertising and promotion possibilities that will open up. See my post about Google Street View, specifically how targeted ads can be displayed to consumers at almost the exact moment of purchase and offer discounts, special offers and additional information. Extreme interactivity will be the key to opening up and unlocking even more creative mobile design possibilities.

There are a few ways to address this and make sure that a mobile user interface design is appropriate when smaller. One solution is simply shrink it down to the exact size of the mobile device we are targeting. This is fine to determine if the general layout works. However, it doesn’t work well with fonts as the text can get distorted and then you can’t determine whether you’ve chosen a good font size.

Many graphics applications (Photoshop, Flash and Illustrator to name a few) allow simultaneous views of the same visual document. This is an extremely helpful tool when designing mobile user interfaces.

In the above screenshot, two views of the same document are shown. The one on the left is at 100% and the one on the right has been reduced to match the exact size of the mobile device screen we’re targeting for this user interface. We can make any changes to the image on the left and manipulate the view in any way we want while keeping the right view open to see how our user interface will look on our target mobile device. To do this in Photoshop, with a document open, select WINDOW>ARRANGE>NEW WINDOW FOR…

Another way we use dual screenshots is to make sure the user interface controls for a touch screen UI are spaced correctly. We simply touch the design that has been sized on the monitor to match the mobile device to determine if the user interface elements are far enough apart.

The Mac has a tool we like called Screen Shrink that allows us to literally shrink a screen so we can see what part of it may look like on a mobile device. This also works well when you see an inspiring design on the web and wonder if it could work well at a smaller size.

It’s a great idea to leverage a developer community. An Advertising Age article has a good analysis on Kindle moving into apps. Some opinions seem short sighted though. For example, while people complain about the greyscale experience, it’s likely that Kindle will get a color display.

A separate Fierce Mobile article reports that Kindle services will represent 10 percent of Amazon.com’s total North American sales in five years. In addition to books, Amazon sells VHS, DVD, CDs, MP3s, computer software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys and so on and so on. What if a future version of Kindle supported all of these products? Talk about a ridiculous about of synergy.

With a Kindle and Amazon.com’s product lines, the possibilities are endless. What if you were reading on a Kindle and the main character is enjoying a tasty pizza? Suddenly, you’re presented an ad to order pizza. And if that had had a coupon? Even better. See my post about advertising on the Kindle.

Another possibility for eReader enhancement brings to mind Mad Libs – fill in the blank and create a story. The Ad Age post quotes Richard Schatzberger, director of creative technology at Bartle Bogle Hegarty, New York. He talks of “living books” where an author could program a story to tailor itself to the reader — a book that reflects the current weather, or is set in a reader’s city.

It will be interesting to see if apps catch fire for the Kindle or future versions of eReaders. But one thing is sure – combine classic “book” consumption with technology and get ready for spirited debates.

I recently did exactly that. I was browsing a bookstore and picked up an interesting title. After looking up a great review on Amazon, I made the in-store purchase. Then I added other books to my Amazon cart to look up later.

This should bring a sigh of relief to traditional retailers as well as a call to action. Retailers need to explore how the physical in-store experience can be complemented and enhanced by mobile.

One great way to blend shopping and mobile is with visual searching. The Nokia Point & Find is a good example of how this could work. Forget about waiting around for a sales clerk. And what are the chances that a retail employee is knowledgeable about every single item in a store? It would be great to just snap a picture of an item or hold your device up to it and get instant information.

Large retailers could really benefit if they had their own app. For example, if you were at Best Buy, the app would provide information on the in-store product as well as suggesting additional purchases (a power cord, batteries, etc.), giving details of the warrantee program or outlining a special credit card offer.

The opportunity to access exclusive offers, coupons and discounts in-store with a mobile device would be great. Also, retailers should make spreading the word to your social network or an individual contact as easy as possible.

The next time you head out to shop, remember that your mobile is a great companion.

For example, instead of showing a months-old photo of an advertisement for an out-of-date movie, the studio could pay Google to constantly update the virtual billboard with an image of their latest release. Cool, huh? 

Google describes Street View as “the last zoom layer on the map - when you’ve zoomed all the way in you find yourself virtually standing on the street. But the most exciting thing about Street View is all the amazing uses that our users and partners find for it.” Could real time advertising make the feature even more useful? I think so. 

Of course all virtual billboards would link for more information opening up a host of possibilities. The link could lead to highly targeted advertisement based on user profiles. A mom would see a mini van billboard, a mid-life crisis aged male would see a sports car promo. A “mood-based” feature would also be a possibility. Users could select what type of trip they are taking. A business trip would show coffee shops, an entertainment adventure could show mini golf or movie theaters. Key in “hungry” and restaurant advertisements appear. 

Last minute discounts would be another great feature. Perhaps you’re driving by a sold-out theater – an open discounted seat offer could pop up. Additionally, consumers love feedback. Augmented Reality could be used to link reviews and merchants to an ad. 

One industry concern is the issue of who actually owns virtual space in a media buy. If one company consistently buys the same billboard on a busy street, could their competitor acquire the virtual space and overlay in the street view? It will be interesting to watch this play out.

The Affective Interfaces website welcome message reads: “Knowing what your customers are doing is great, but wouldn’t you like to know why?” Harvesting information from consumers is a great use of the program. Focus groups these days cover everything from new product perception to jury trial preparation and they are labor intensive to arrange and costly to run. Fast Company notes that Affective Interfaces could potentially remove human monitors from the equation, saving a ton of money. Additionally, hundreds of users could be part of a group eliminating the need for companies to conduct expensive testing on small numbers.

Taking this a step further, it would be amazing if advertisements could be presented at an opportune emotional moment based on a user’s personality and demographic profile. For example, at the end of the day, a tired mom might see a vacation commercial or a mattress sale announcement. The same mom on a treadmill in the morning might see a commercial for a sports drink or athletic shoes.

Intelligent interfaces on a consumer device could detect frustration on a user’s face and adjust themselves accordingly. A frustrated user would could get more of a stripped down simple user interface and then get more options later as frustrations went away. This could be a great benefit for new users or those that aren’t technologically savvy.

Additionally, the entertainment industry could tweak content choices based on your current emotional state. Music, movies, games and applications could be matched to a particular mood.

What about using emotion detection to monitor a loved one turning it into a potentially an important relationship tool. Let’s say you have the ability to check the emotions of your spouse before you leave the office. Confrontational or angry? Stay at work longer or hit happy hour before you pull into the driveway.

Mobile Entertainment had a post announcing the launch and some of the details. The app will attempt to simulate all the sights and sounds of an actual casino to immerse users in the Foxwoods environment. No free drinks or real money play. “Play-for-fun” only games since remote gambling illegal in the US. Also included are tips on how to play the casino’s table games as well as a resort tour. Of course, the goal is to get users into the “real world” casino to unload some of their real cash. 

MGM would be smart blend exclusive on-premise features with offsite offers. Offsite features should be heavy on getting gamblers onto the property such as the ability to easily book your stay along with last minute getaway deals. Additional offers could include discount on show tickets, coupons only available to app users, an in-depth event calendar, local weather and restaurant specials. 

While on-site, the app could make visits smoother by acting as a virtual concierge for dinner reservations, event and attraction tickets, local maps and directions or transportation arrangement. (This is an end run around concierge tipping so guests have that much more $$$ to spend on the gaming floor!) 

The app could also feature on-premise only mobile gambling for real dollars. Currently, this is only legal in casino public areas in Vegas might be extended in the future through pending legislation. Gambling tutorials (expanding on tips) for specific MGM games would also be a smart on-site feature. Devices could also be loaned to guest for their stay.

With the travel industry struggling, any resort destination would be smart to jump into the app marketplace if they can offer ease, affordability and creative content.