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Bluetooth needs to lose the manual
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By Jørgen Sundgot, Wednesday 24 July 2002  
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A new study from wireless advisor Northstream says that despite its veteran status in the area of wireless technology, Bluetooth still needs to lose its manual to become a success.
Despite being one of the veterans in the arena of wireless technology, Bluetooth still has a long and bumpy road ahead of it before the technology can realise its full potential according to Swedish wireless advisor Northstream. The success of Bluetooth will be determined by how well manufacturers and application developers can apply the rules of simplicity and consumer friendliness, according to a new study from the company.
Bluetooth has a number of advantages and is clearly suitable for mass market, voice-centric mobile devices due to the low cost structure, low power consumption and voice support - and the gloomy market situation in the wireless industry has increased the interest in Bluetooth as a potential new money-maker for operators, according to the study.
"It is clear that the expected take-up of Bluetooth has been slower than anticipated. The main explanation is that Bluetooth is too cumbersome for the average user. The way to success for Bluetooth equipment manufacturers is to address usability issues now," says Jan Johannesson at Northstream.
In order to realise the potential of Bluetooth a number of steps are needed to improve user friendliness. Among other things, Bluetooth equipment manufacturers need to focus on what consumers actually need, not the intricacies of the technology; an intuitive user interface where it's easier and faster to initiate a Bluetooth-application and not the least configure Bluetooth (if at all). In addition, more intuitive out-of-the-box set-up procedures and smooth interaction between devices and interoperability between Bluetooth-applications from different manufacturers are mentioned as requirements.
"The experience with WAP and GPRS clearly illustrates the negative effects of an overly complex user interface. Most often, the average user does not bother to read the manual before trying out the respective Bluetooth-enabled product, and if the user does not succeed in getting it up and running on the first or second attempt, it is very unlikely they will ever give it a third try. That is why less is more when it comes Bluetooth," says Jan Johannesson.
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