Password rules are so 90s, there should be only minimum length restriction, and rest should be the responsibility of the User. Because Internet already trained those who are using websites for Job Search that Password should be easy to memorize and tricky enough for someone else.

People want me to give hard and fast rules: don’t show more than X menu items; don’t write more than Y words per page; nothing should be more than Z clicks from the homepage. Sadly, UI design doesn’t work that way.

Its a tiny thing but contains huge value.

There should be an option in the setting of those devices to turn on and off the public holidays marking. For me I would keep it on to plan ahead.

I created couple of bags there :

UX Bits & Pieces

http://bagcheck.com/bag/5392-ux-bits-pieces

My iPad Helping Hands

http://bagcheck.com/bag/3382-my-ipad-helping-hands

UX Books

http://bagcheck.com/bag/2272-ux-books

Sufi Order of Azeemia’s Books

http://bagcheck.com/bag/8972-sufi-order-of-azeemia-s-books

Now what value I got while having a BagCheck account? Actually a lot, got a recommendation for something like “PhotoShop” on iPad, able to evaluate the “Stylus” for my iPad. Got a recommendation about yet another Keynote Wireframe Toolkit.

If you need a recommendation and what others are using “xyz” product in Photography, Design etc. then try this service. AWESOME STUFF.

For instance if you are using Twitter for Windows Phone 7, Facebook and Flickr, and would like to share images with status update, what it does is it start from the top in camera roll (assuming you wanna share the image you took just a moment ago) , where as in iPhone and I think I can safely assume in Android, it put the user at the latest image row in the Camera Roll folder.

Imagine I have to scroll down the 200+ images to get to the last row of latest images.

Please fix this tiny, but annoying usability issue.

Just a note I am using HTC HD7. And thanks to @randolphcabral for encouraging me to post this bit as I was discussing that annoyance at Lahore Karahi with him.

Now lets explore the iPray App on iOS devices. It facilitate the notification of the “Prayer” timings on your phone, very neat application, and very easy to adjust the timing according to the School of Thoughts followed among Muslims. It pops-up the notification PLUS it will play Prayer Call for 30 seconds or less (iOS limitation, you cannot play audio more than 30 seconds during alert/notification). However, if you keep this app open, and then there is a Prayer Time, it will play full Prayer Call. You may ask where is the issue?

Well, as I said earlier when developing the religious, community-specific, culture specific application the approach should be holistic, and should not leave the “important” part out of the application, as user can see it as a whole-package, instead of misleading, incomplete or deceptive presentation of their specific need (in our case religious need). So the issue is simple, let me explain the issue first.

When you are in the app, and leave it open and let your iOS Device goes to sleep and then the prayer time arrives, this iPray app will play the full prayer call. However what I noticed that the “Fajar” prayer call played, but it is not the actual “Fajar” Prayer Call. Here is the Regular Prayer Call all Muslim around the world can recognize it, and this is the Fajar Prayer Call. Hear the difference. Let me put it for you in words here, in Fajar Prayer Call there is a very specific sentence “Salat is better than the sleep”. Pretty obvious as you can say? Right? NO the iPray Developers never consider this thing in this app. My friends tweeted to them, I wrote a review to them, no action taken from them.

Solution? Very simple, add the Fajar Prayer Audio file in to the app, and just like user can select different Regular Prayer Call for other Prayer Timings, they can pick Fajar Prayer Call for Fajar Notification, and they can make the Fajar Prayer Audio file as a default selection or ONLY selection in their app. This is how you have to develop the “trust-worthy” app.

Now lets see if it is implemented anywhere else? Well these days I am using Windows Phone 7 (HTC HD7 to be specific). Yes, there is an app, name ” Muslim Prayer Times“. This app DOES have the Fajar Prayer Call, see it is not that difficult to implement. I am getting the notification in same manner as I can get it in iPhone, if it is not open, then only notification appears on my Windows Phone 7 screen, however if I keep my App open and phone goes in to the sleep mode, it does play the Fajar Prayer Call or Regular Prayer Call depends what time is it.

And a last note, do not come to me by saying “Oh well, it is just a small thing they missed”, my answer will be same as above when implementing some feature that facilitate the strict code of implementation of the required action then it should be complete, and it won’t consider as a “pure” implementation. Excuse me, but here is what my analogy is: IF you put a very tiny bit of piss in the “pure organic 1 gallon of milk” it won’t be considered as “pure”.

If you find this article helpful, please spread around and let your friend know about the iPray, so they can either take off there app down OR rectify the issue.

Obviously we all know that Android is actually took some “hints” from iPhone, and you know where else these Android & iPhone got inspiration, yup, one and only Windows Phone 6.0/6.5. This last sentence will make some outburst, however here is what I experienced since April 2003 till today’s mobile phone usage.

Sidekick Black & White: Scrolling Menu (different approach)

Nokia 3660: Menu Screen and Icon Placement. (video)

Nokia 3660

Nokia N91: For Music Player, but same Application Menu Page

Nokia E65: Icon on Taskbar.

T-Mobile Dash: Menu Page/Start Page

iPhone 1, iPhone 3G & iPhone 3GS: The whole package was surreal that’s why I bought it.

HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7: Content oriented approach, Outlook, Office & People integration, to the point and content specific-only.

Now lets see the common part that still exists in to our so called “Revolutionary Devices” or Post-PC Devices:

1. We are still seeing the “Menu Items” in an icon format since the inception of GUI on Desktop Computer starting from XEROX and then popularized by Apple and then the Windows inspiration from Apple.
2. The Taskbar inception as we can see in T-Mobile Dash, Nokia E65 etc. This is also borrowed from Desktop PC/Mac’s task bar idea.
3. Under-usage of the Desktop/Home-screen. Where as iPhone totally got-rid off from it since there debut. Android did trying to fit in the Widget placement approach. The winner in my point of view is Windows Phone 7, there desktop is somewhat talking to me according to what the People to whom I am connected is saying, calendar is more meaningful.

These are my observation so far that we are still lingering on the Icons and still borrowing it to the Post-PC Devices, not utilizing the full potential of Mobile Devices and trying our best to stuff the unneeded icons, is Windows Phone 7 trying the different approach? I think so it is, however as usual Microsoft is always a failure when it comes to a proper execution fresh ideas. I am still hoping that industry will try to adopt the idea of “Focus on Content’ rather than glossifyin the app icons representation in those Post-PC Device.

User Experience in my opinion is the content-focus approach &  representing it in a way to communicate the need properly is what is missing in mobile industry (I haven’t used the HP’s WebOS and RIM upcoming Mobile OS).

http://www.qurtaba.net/2011/02/panaroma-control-paper-based-demo/

1. Subject To Change: Creating Great Products & Services for an Uncertain World by Peter Merholz – READ
   
2. Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning by Dan Brown
3. Contextual Design: A Customer-Centered Approach to Systems Designs (Interactive Technologies) by Hugh Beyer
4. Designing Web Navigation: Optimizing the User Experience by James Kalbach and Aaron Gustafson
5. Designing for Interaction: Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices (Voices That Matter) by Dan Saffer
6. Designing for the Social Web (Voices That Matter) by Joshua Porter
7. Designing Interfaces by Jenifer Tidwell – READ
   
8. Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web Application Design by Robert Hoekman Jr.
9. Designing Web Interfaces By Bill Scott
10. The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web (Voices That Matter) by Jesse James Garrett – READ
    
11. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville
12. A Project Guide to UX Design: For user experience designers in the field or in the making by Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler
13. Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition by Steve Krug – READ
    
14. Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Usability Metrics (Interactive Technologies) by Thomas Tullis
15. Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design by Bill Buxton
16. Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior by Indi Young
17. Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions by Tim Ash
18. WebForm Design: Filling in the Blanks by Luke Wroblewski – READ
    
19. The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam
20. Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner’s Guide to User Research By Mike Kuniavsky (Recommended by my mentor)
21. Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems by Steve Krug - READING