The pace of mobile innovation, both hardware and software, is slowing at the moment. This doesn’t mean that the number of features announced in each product has been reduced. In fact, it’s the opposite. Instead, it’s the user benefit that’s waning and this is easy to see in most recent flagship products from Apple (iPhone 5) and Samsumg (Galaxy S4). It’s true that we’re still slaying dragons in mobile, but these dragons are tiny and almost insignificant.

With the iPhone 5, it was Maps. Even if Maps was a perfect clone of the Google Maps app that preceded it, what would have been the real benefit to the user? Ultimately, it was a technical and strategic decision that was played off as a major user benefit; it wasn’t.

With the Galaxy S4, announced on March 14, the trend continues. Here is a list of the features announced and my quick thoughts on each - rating them on a 3-star system...

http://www.slideshare.net/500startups/steve-johnson-warm-gun-2012

Not to be outdone by the Netflix culture document, LinkedIn posts its own guide on how it became awesome. Lots of great nuggets here, but my biggest takeaway is the focus on making all roles part of an integrated product team. If you want to run a company focused solely on engineering, fine. However, if you want to run a company which more often produces products that customers love to use, then you better ensure your team is more than just a collection of brilliant engineers. Like LinkedIn, I believe great product starts with recruiting, and is built with a multi-disciplinary team who enjoy working together and who all focus on the customer first.

(UX + Dev + QE + Recruiting + Program Mgmt + Product Mgmt) * Passion = Best chance at winning in the long run.

I wanted to spend some time with the new official Basecamp app for iOS, v1.0. Hearing much about its great performance, despite being a hybrid app, was something worth exploring. Here is what I found.

• It’s fast, yes, but is it native fast throughout? No.
• As web apps go, it’s simple design is appreciated, but does it compare in design with top native apps? Not really.
• The navigation bar is very well done, although the back buttons don’t respond to my touch - no pressed state. It’s the little things on iOS that really delight users.
• The home screen provides little context for what’s in the list. Is this a list of Projects, or something else? Feels like the app has little to offer since the other functions aren’t surfaced from this home screen.
• The home screen and project feed are fairly responsive to taps, and provide a good UX complete with nice bounce physics on scrolling. Leads me to...

I have heard nothing but love for the iPad Mini, so I thought I’d take a week and force myself away from my 4th generation iPad.

Some context. I love the iPad, but I may not be a typical consumer user. I tend to use it more during the 9-5 hours, consuming email, calendar notifications, and pounding content into Evernote. I don’t read ebooks, watch Netflix or play games. I’m a boring, corporate blue, enterprise user. That said, here is what I found during my week with the Mini.

Day 1. I miss Retina, the big screen, and I want my big iPad back! Reaching for my 4th gen iPad was a natural and consistent behavior throughout the week. It’s not that I disliked the Mini, I just wanted the other iPad back. However, there were still some things that I really liked about the Mini.

• Beautifully designed hardware. The design takes cues from the iPhone 5 that give it a nicer feel and look as...

In general, all of the aspects which make for a great desktop web app application will also contribute to an excellent mobile experience - both phone and tablet. However, there are additional elements which are unique to providing an optimized mobile experience (highest priority listed first).

• Tappable. UI components and navigation should be easy to tap with a finger, or sausage.
• Fluid Design. Since mobile devices vary dramatically in their resolution and physical size, the user interface should be fluid in its ability to fill the screen - making sure it looks equally great on an iPhone 3G, Samsung Note, iPad, and tablets which are a bit larger.
  
• Speed. Worth calling out explicitly, because if the web app isn’t snappy your users won’t give you a pass just because of a phone’s underpowered chip or low memory. They want speed, and they want it on their phone… today.
• Scrolling...