Little World – Amazing Changes Afoot in Mobile User Interface

Nokia and the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design recently funded a study focusing on how we will interact with our mobile devices in the next 2 to 4 years. Kevin Cannon and Tobias Loft spearheaded the work on this project. They devoted two weeks of intensive study to the project, essentially exploring how user interfaces will change, especially as they relate to young, tech savvy users.

They ultimately created a concept they called “Little World.” Little World assigns images and user behaviors to user interfaces so that our mobile experiences are not only more realistic, but more animated. An example is pinning a new girlfriend’s phone number to a cloud (since she is, at least at that moment “dreamy”) and grouping friends together, visually, on the interface. Their amazing work on this project has been featured in Fast Company, as well as in Core77, a design magazine and resource.

In a recent interview explaining the concept, Cannon says, “We found out that the featurism around modern phones was actually getting in the way of its core function: connecting people.” That’s just what the interface does – it brings people to the forefront. Little World went on to become a finalist at the IxD10 student competition this month. Brilliant! Congratulations, guys! Check it out the video!