Take long awaited mobile revolution? After years and years of text messaging being the coolest thing Sony, LG and Samsung “smartphones” could offer, Apple finally invented something that stirred something up. All of a sudden everyone has figured out how to make touch-screens work.

We seriously lack real innovation. There is just too much marketing fluff. Is this a side effect of our version of free market economy that does not have a real solution to the ’short term gains’ issue?

When I ask a recently graduated Interactive designer about his/her web design curriculum, I always get the same response. They’ve taken a course in HTML and one in FLASH where they built a “project” and designed a “website”. Try and ask them about their thought-process on information architecture or usability or a simle question like as “How did you come up with the navigation?” It often leaves them fumbling for some sort of response.

Don’t get me wrong. These students are usually very talented. I would just stay away from evaluating their potential based on this school project.

At these schools, besides HTML and Flash course, the rest of their time is usually spent on making a spinning 3D robot because that’s one of the media in “multimedia.”

To any design school instructors or administrators reading this: please realize that an Interactive design program should be similar to an Architecture program where the guiding principle is “form follows function.”

Students need to spend their time learning about information design, usability, visualization, iterative design, prototyping, wireframing, behavioral profiling, heuristics, ergonomics and knowledge management. Good web design is not just about Dreamweaver and FLASH skills.

Also, enough with the “multimedia”. The industry doesn’t need a 3D game developer, video editor and web designer packaged into one career. That time is gone. Give us analytical, creative thinkers who know the real meaning of user-centered design.

We need fresh talent that’s savvier than today’s school kids. This is the one area that I don’t feel we are ready for the mobile revolution. As if there is no user-centered design, there is no mobile revolution.

And if it does not happen in the first visit, it ain’t happenin!

If you are the entrepreneur trying to make it work, focus on the getting down your one KPI – time to aha: start the stopwatch on click on the sign-up button and stop it as soon as the user realizes how simple this app is. That is, if the app is really “simple”.

Imagine if you have online product demonstration videos. If you use the click-throughs and even video engagement metrics to conduct Conjoint Analysis using the orthagonal design, imagine how accurate you can get with the customer preferences for various product features. Compare that to a survey study you are used to conduct. Where would you put your bets?