Webby | An Original Idea

Why is web browsing the iPhone so cool then? Well I can’t answer that question with certainty, as I don’t have access to an iPhone.

But I’ve seen a few videos on the subject and will list my thoughts. Feel free to post any things people feel really “make it”.

Powerful features to me are:

Thumb scrolling
Thumb zoom (seems awkward, but seems to work)
Strong animation support throughout to give an “organic” feel. The animations are contextual and enhance the usability of the program.
Orientation awareness

I think all these features are intrinsic to the iPhone user experience and are not peculiar to safari.

Other interesting features:

Cool thumbable “multiple page” interface. (Tab substitute)
“Full Screen” mode just seems to happen intuitively
Search field “appears” when url field is focused
I like the bookmarks “slide up”. Much smoother than traditional PPC menus.

I believe the “usability” of applications like this is going to be “expected” in the future. Software developers will really have to take this seriously in order to survive.

I still think Webby will still have much to offer, even in an iPhone world. Stay posted.

Links

A few people have asked me what the plans are for the new version of Webby. This post documents a few thoughts for those who are interested.

My original intent with Webby was to create a mobile Web Browser that was:

easy to use
fast (native microbrowser support)
powerful (tabs, gesture recognition, extensions etc)

In each version, many new features were added, which I think people appreciated.

After reading “The Design of Everyday Things”, I think future developments should now be dedicated to the former category.

In the past I think I have equated “easy to use” with copying the paradigms used in similar products. In the case of Webby, copying the user experience of Pocket IE and desktop browsers. (It’s so similar to Pocket IE that some people still think it’s some sort of Pocket Internet Explorer Addin)

Perhaps I should be considering whether the user experience of those existing “standard” products is as “easy to use” as they need to be.

Additionally I believe the main reason people use webby it’s ability to have multiple “views” of a page using Microbrowser technology.

The next version of Webby will provide a more intuitive experience, with even easier access to it’s most popular features (such as multiple page layouts). A new feature will be to “remember” your preferred “layout” (renamed “view”) of a site.