Motorola's poor usability

Motorolas's stuff sucks, but 55 isn't exactly a reliable survey size.

Talk about beating a dead horse. We're all aware of Motorola's poor interface system, however we were aware BEFORE the RAZR.

People still gobbled up the handset. Why? Motorola offered something that was compelling enough where people would be willing to overlook shortcomings. They were in the dumps before and we came back to a handset that had the SAME interface of pre-Razr Motorola phones.

Now they're in the process of changing it with their next generation Linux OS that should begin appearing in their regular phones by 2007. Even now phones such as the Krazr and Razr V3i have updated the menu system to the point where it's at least tolerable. An upcoming phone I had the opportunity to use called the Razr MAXX V6 will have a new processor that speeds up the menu system significantly.

And as Andrew said, the pool for this survey wasn't exactly solid. There are still over 20 million Razrs being sold per financial quarter, many of those likely sustained from previous Razr owners who either replaced their handset or upgraded to newer variants like the V3i or my phone the Razr V3x.

What will be key once the new OS hits? Once again creating a compelling device that will suck those users back in. The same people saying they won't buy another Motorola after the Razr are the ones who swore off Motorla after the Startac, after the V600, after the T720. If they can again create a product that makes us say why not take another shot, the game is won. We are superficial beings, we paid well over $500 for that Razr when it first came out in 2004 and it had the same morbid software that we're complaining about now when it's free.

I will agree that Motorola's phones are not easy to use. I and a friend who works for Motorola were both complaining about this yesterday. That said, I just returned from the Chicago World Usability Day meeting and was impressed with a presentation from a Motorola rep on their new Moto Fone which is targeted for emerging markets. They appear to have put a tremendous amount of effort in creating a phone usable for customers in emerging markets. The phone is much simplified and stripped of many common (though perhaps unnecessary or unvalued) features. This keeps the cost low and allowed Motorola to design for users who have little exposure to technology and low literacy rates. As I understand it, the phone has no text in the menu navigation but relies on common icons to get to different features. They spent a lot of time in the target countries learning about the people and environment in which the phone would be used. I may have been enveloped in a cloud of marketing hype but from hearing about their process, they appear to have done it right this time. We all left hoping the phone would be available in the US as well. Time will tell.

An addendum to Ron G.'s note above - I was at the same Chicago event. I believe the Moto Fone is going to be available in the US as well. It will be interesting to see, though, how people here will react to the much lower number of features. As Don Norman mentioned in his speech (and I think we've all experienced), the purchase decision often doesn't take direct usability into account, but is based on aesthetics and number of features. When it comes to actually using the phone, the simpler UI will be a big benefit, but I'll be interested to see how people react to the simpler UI when it comes to buying-hype. Less-is-more has worked for new products like iPod, but is a more difficult concept to sell with existing products.

The problem is that most stores don't even let you *use* the phone before you buy it. No batteries, no UI; all you can do is touch and feel it, and hope that the UI is to your liking when you get it home. (Yes, a whole other topic could be written about how to improve the customer experience of these stores, but that's for another time.)

Moto Fone was created for developing markets across the planet, something that could be mass produced but cheap and well performing to compete with Nokia who is the only manufacturer yet to reach such places. It was not created to demonstrate any new Motorola interface, in America it would only serve as a cheap pre-pay phone or perhaps one for the elderly and children. It's not meant to make a splash here but it is a good sign that Motorola is paying attention to the idea of a simplified interface.

The one that will be in phones like Razr and post-Razr SCPL series is based on Linux. Moto Fone software is too simple for the complications of today's handsets with multi megapixel cameras, internet and soon television services.

Ya..well known that Motorola doesn`t perform that good usability wise. I had to buy a RazR and decided to buy the Vodafone Version...the usability of that handset is slightly improved and the icons and graphocs are much more advanced than the original outdated, old-fashioned Moto ones. Funny thing: some of my friends now changed their Moto's to get a Voda version... I think this time, Voda really did a good job. PB