When the user manual for a cell phone weighs five times as much as the phone itself, it is a clear indication that the phone is anything but user-friendly. As technologies grow increasingly powerful, Deutsche Telekom is committed to ensuring they are easy to use. Innovations in the area of Intuitive Usability are therefore a key part of its development activities. Personalizing terminal devices, for example, enables users to filter content to suit their preferences. With the aid of an automated configuration manager, services can then be accessed directly without manual adjustments.

The Key to Service and Comfort

That is why the company’s Berlin-based researchers are focusing on topics such as functionality, design methodology and multimodal interactivity, as well as voice, graphic, visual and haptic interfaces. Easy use of terminals, applications and services is critical when it comes to user comfort. Fortunately, even complex telecommunications devices can now be deployed quickly and simply, thanks to cross-modal technologies driven by speech, keyboard, stylus, gestures and facial expressions.