What users want from technology

Todays’s consumers have become more tech savvy than previous generations and want to get the most out of their smartphones. DEON PRINSLOO, General Manager at LG Mobile says that designing a phone that is both innovative and feature-rich has become a tall order for many manufacturers.

In what seems like an age ago, when we were all just consumers rather than users, it must have been a little easier for brands to provide for us. You want a TV? Here it is. A phone? Done. A camera? Here’s the best technology on the market.

The transition from consumers to users has been swift over the last decade and, in a trail blazed by tech industry leaders, our key concerns have become the value of our experiences. For tech companies, the question has become: how do we create products that provide a seamless transition between the experiences of everyday life and the ease of using innovative technology?

What makes technology work for us?

The first thing we need to do is remember that technology and innovation have always been about what users want. Long before any kind of phone, let alone smart ones, was an option, human beings invented the wheel because it made it easier to move things around. We then developed the cart because it offered better use and further customisation, allowing us to carry more things or different items in different ways. We have repeatedly found and refined uses for the wheel, so much so that no one who uses it – no user – really has to think about how it works. It fits neatly and seamlessly into their daily lives.

Smartphones have offered a similar form of convenience for modern users who are looking to do more with a single device than the previous generations of consumers did. You can pick a tech leader in a line-up because they’re the ones who have cottoned on to what users want and provided an integrated, streamlined experience of their device’s features. Each feature should speak to a different desire from users, covering as much ground as possible in as simple and effective a fashion as they can. You know, like the wheel.

Currently, users are looking for a lot of ground to be covered. Taking a quick look at current trends, there is a desire for more features, each of which provides an edge for every user’s individual experience of the device as a whole.

What users want right now

Finding a combination of all those features is a tall order. Doing so in a way that not only meets user expectations but also feels integrated and distinct is a feat that only the sharpest, most forward-thinking companies can pull off.

Perhaps the company that’s come closest to pulling this off while supplying a premium device to a wide range of users is LG. With their latest release, the G4, the tech giants have produced a smartphone that doesn’t just attempt to give users what they want, but goes the extra mile to surpass their expectations.

Featuring a big 5.5-inch Quantum Display, a camera that shoots pics that rival DSLRs in quality, and the intuitive and seamless UX 4.0 operating system, the new offering really does speak to the company’s careful analysis of user demand. The hardware runs remarkably smoothly for a phone pushing the upper limits of smartphone technology, but is actually contained in a slimmer curved case. And for added personalisation they’ve released six iterations of the phone with genuine, full-grain leather cases, to meet what users are looking for.

The wheel turns

The effect of great technology is that it ends up fitting comfortably into our daily lives, matching the pace of our work and leisure. The wheel works for its users because it responds to our needs, just like all the best technology should.

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