Background

The Zire 71—the second entry in the Palm Solutions Group consumer line—was launched in spring 2003. Marketing research showed that media (graphics, games, MP3s) would surpass PIMs as the primary use of handheld computers. The Zire 71 was designed as a media-centric handheld with a built-in camera and MP3 player.

The project

I designed the camera interface and the interaction between the Zire hardware and the OS. The camera automatically launches when the user slides open the Zire 71 (which reveals the camera lens on the back of the handheld).

The camera interface has finger-tappable buttons and the user can switch between the shutter/capture mode and a basic thumbnail review mode. Pressing the shutter button takes a picture. Sliding the Zire 71 shut quits the camera app and automatically saves any photos into the Palm Photos application.

CHI case study

My case study (.pdf) of the Zire 71 camera human interface design process was accepted for presentation and inclusion in the the proceedings of the 2004 CHI conference in Vienna, Austria.