Mobile Hardware
Nokia 7710
Designed the touch interaction model and core UI for Nokia's first touch-only smartphone — three years before the iPhone redefined the category.
Client
Nokia
Role
UX Designer
Year
2004
Tools
Early prototyping tools, Nokia internal design system
The First Wave of Smartphones
The Nokia 7710 launched in 2004 alongside the Palm Treo as part of the first generation of devices that would eventually define the smartphone era. My primary contributions were UI design for call handling, camera, media browser, and settings — alongside active participation in usability studies and the cross-team design of the Series 90 UI Style, Nokia's shared interaction framework for the platform.
Hardware UX: Where Software Meets Physical Design
I contributed to the physical design decisions: button placement, button sizing, overall device dimensions, and stylus design. The device shipped with a half-VGA touchscreen, an Opera web browser, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, GSM, and a full media suite — ambitious specifications for 2004. A multi-function Voice key compressed three distinct interactions into a single physical control: short press to record a voice memo, long press to voice-dial, and during a call to switch to speakerphone.
The Road Not Taken
The original industrial design was a bold statement — wide, flat, and deliberately unlike anything else on the market. It didn't survive public reception; critics drew comparisons to the N-Gage "side-talking" controversy, and the design was revised before launch. I still find the original more interesting than what shipped. The dynamics of mass taste versus design courage remain one of the most fascinating and unresolved tensions in the field.
