Let the Designers Choose

I can understand why Microsoft has endeavored to make clear the interaction/ui differences between a desktop and a SmartPhone or even a PocketPC and SmartPhone to developers. Obviously, the lack of a mouse or touchscreen introduces a new set of HCI issues. I will say, though, that I am fundamentally opposed to how Microsoft has chosen to ensure SmartPhone developers don't veer off a fairly rigid idea about how SmartPhone interaction should take place -- which is somewhat ironic given that the developers in my research group find the SmartPhone OS UI to be overly complicated. The focus seemed to be create an OS interface that follows the most prominent UI features/models of Windows rather than creating an OS interface that is actually good as a phone UI (e.g. syncing to the Outlook contact list probably seemed like a good idea until you test it with actual users, where you would find that, in fact, much of an Outlook contact list is not made up of phone numbers but rather e-mail addresses! This is great if I want to use e-mail on my phone but not when I just want to make a phone call. My Outlook contact list is populated with 100s of contacts whom I rarely talk to and would never call (because, for one, I don't even have their numbers). But I digress...

Back to my original topic which is: the way Microsoft has structured the .NET CF API to enforce its limited vision of HCI on the phones.

Case in point, radio buttons. Yes, radio buttons. Microsoft disallows Radio Buttons on the SmartPhones. They made that choice for me. They think radiobuttons are a bad idea on an interface that small with limited input mechanisms. Instead, they suggest I use a ListView where only one item can be selected at a time (ah, how clever, that's just like a radiobutton but not!). However, in my application, it is much more relevant and intuitive to usea radiobutton. But somehow this choice isn't mine, it's Microsofts.

You know, fundamentally, I think the .NET CF GUI API should really just expose everything. Let the designers choose what's right or wrong. I know Microsoft is trying to provide some baseline standard, fine, but don't restrict my creative freedom and design talents.