There are lots of things to say about
new figures from Nielsen Mobile that show US mobile users now text more than they call. But, most important might be the proof it offers that usability really is the thing to focus on when it comes to providing content and services, especially on our fiddly little mobile devices.
In the first quarter of 2008 texting overtook phone calls in the US for the first time. The US has been very slow to adopt texting compared with the rest of the world for one simple reason - they didn't offer it until 2004. Then, when they did, they weren't compatible with each other (as ours weren't when they first started).
Verisign argued in vain in 2004 that the services should be interoperable from the start.
Their research showed that the one thing that prompted texting to leap in any market where it was available was the ability to text someone no matter what network they were on. In the UK, for example, the number of texts jumped 3.5 times once interoperability was established (April 1999).
Being able to text anyone is pretty fundamental to making SMS usable. And what often happens when it comes to new technology is that the industry focuses so much on the abstract benefits ('engage!', 'entertain!', 'connect!') they forget to focus on what really matters - making sure people can actually use it.
This is nowhere more the case than in mobile where the carriers were pumping out grand messages about the wonders of the mobile internet in 2000 when only now is a mobile connection anywhere near good enough to support such claims. And that's not that often.
One of the reasons cited for the jump in SMS use in the US in the past year is the growth in availability of phones with QWERTY keyboards. Users with QERTY keyboards text 54 per cent more
says Nielsen. This is more proof that - especially in mobile where we have less patience and a fiddlier experience - making a service usable is key.
In short, a service can be usable but not useful and gain audience (back to the iPint) but not the other way around.
