# Week 9 Two opposite examples of ergonomics/usability/HCI in the smartphone market

This week I will talk about 1 design failure and 1 design that succeeded in the technology field particularly cell phones. 

First, as a failure I will talk about the GALAXY NOTE 7. It was released in 2016 and was meant to be a revolution and a direct competitor of iPhone. It had several and gorgeous innovations such as a curved display, a long battery life, and a camera that could rival the iPhone. 
For example talking about the screen, It had a 5.7-inch AMOLED display with curved edges that wrap to the side of the phone, and a slightly rounded back, giving it a surprisingly good feel. Some other interesting features were to be water resistant and incorporate iris scanning too. Talking about HCI The icons were softer and more rounded, and a lot of the settings seemed easier to access, and so on. 

It is proven that they put a lot of effort in the phone and the expectations of success were at the highest. It was actually for many reviewers the best phone Samsung ever made. There was one big drawback that was experienced by some users… The battery caught fired and could even explode. I suppose this was a big surprise for Samsung and It probably created a great shock at the Samsung Headquarters. This unexpected failure damaged severely the confidence in the world’s biggest maker of smartphones and it had a huge economic impact since they were forced at the end to stop the production. 


By other hand, a very wise and innovative smartphone in terms of design and HCI was the original iPhone. Pretty much any phone available for purchase now anywhere still takes its major design cues from that significant breakthrough. Many others before, had been trying to develop touchpad screens and bigger screens but anyone like Apple managed to do it good enough to switching consumer’s mindset. This success appeared right after a great failure with the Motorola ROKR, a phone that came equipped with iTunes, so Apple decided to develop its own phone. 

They pionneered on the following aspects: 
    1. Multi-touch interface 
    2. First useful mobile web browser 
    3. Integrated iPod music player 
    4. Mobile YouTube app 
    5. Visual voicemail 

They didn’t have enough and soon they released iPhone 3G offering: 
    1. Mobile app store for developers 
    2. Microsoft Exchange email 
    3. 3G mobile broadband 
    4. Turn-by-turn GPS navigation 

The first iPhone's legacy is secure as one of the most important products in Apple history and one of the most important for the mobile industry. We all know that all the competitors that still exist in the market have followed the ideas set for this first iPhone.

Here below the references used to write this entry:

1. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/23/samsung-blames-faulty-batteries-for-causing-galaxy-note-7-fires

2. https://www.fastcompany.com/90315742/the-20-worst-phones-of-the-century-and-how-they-got-that-way

3. https://www.pcmag.com/news/galaxy-note-7-introduction-is-refinement-as-important-as-innovation

4. https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/06/29/the-story-of-the-original-iphone-that-nobody-thought-was-possible

5. https://www.fastcompany.com/90236755/the-best-designed-phones-of-all-time-according-to-the-experts

6. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/10-years-of-iphone-innovation-the-top-features-apple-launched-with-each-new-iphone/


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