The lack of intelligent design in mobile phones

Abstract

This paper describes how the organization of the development of mobile phones may reduce usability and user satisfaction, and it suggests possible improvements to the development process. It compares the evolution of mobile phones with the evolution of animals and plants, and it describes how the evolution of mobile phones is driven by the competition between specific characteristics of phones; similar to the way organic evolution is driven by the competition between genes. It describes how characteristics of mobile phones compete both in markets and in development organizations, and criteria that determine which characteristics survive and spread in development organizations. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004.