Creating a UI that Allows Users to
Experience the Speed of 5G (Part 1)
—arrows 5G F-51A

The arrows 5G F-51A, a 5G-compatible smartphone that features the world's thinnest body for a 5G-compatible device at 7.7 mm, a frame that surrounds the body, a classy rear design, and a UI that feels like the future, was the recipient of the 2020 Good Design Award. We asked Kento Misawa, who was in charge of UI design, about the requirements and what he focused on when designing the UI screens.

• (Note)
  This is the first part of a two-part article. Click here for the second part. >

Takeaways from Part 1

• The job of a UI designer is to learn about the needs of the world, analyze them, and reflect them in their designs.
• The most important aspects of UI design are usability and the experience that comes with it.
• The ideal UI is something the user barely notices. It should feel like air.

The arrows 5G F-51A is a 5G-compatible smartphone featuring a UI design that offers a preview of the ultra-high-speed, high-capacity, and low-latency experience that defines 5G. "The key to UI design is making a screen that you can use intuitively without getting confused. In other words, it's about communicating with people," says Kento Misawa, who works at the Design Center's Product Design Department and was in charge of UI design.

In designing the arrows 5G F-51A, Misawa says, "We needed a UI that would enable nimble operation of quality content that incorporates the features of 5G. One of the features of 5G is high-speed communication, and we focused on the speed aspect, with the goal of creating software that allows users to experience not only the communication, but also the speed."

One such piece of software is called FAST Finger Launcher. With this feature, you can skip the process of selecting and launching an application from the home screen, and instead, you can now instantly launch and use the application you want to use. "It might sound just like skipping a small step, but to the user, it feels fast and completely new," Misawa explains regarding the advantages of this feature.

For example, the number of users of cashless payment has been increasing in recent years, but when you actually use it, it sometimes takes time to start the application or it doesn't load properly. "I think it is an important job for designers to think about what kind of operation would make it easier to use and incorporate that into the UI, considering various usage scenarios in everyday life, like paying with your smartphone. FAST Finger Launcher was born from this thought process. Designers were also involved in the collection and analysis of information on the needs of the world and of the future, and this was reflected in the development," Misawa explains regarding the birth of FAST Finger Launcher.

Among these newly developed UI design features, FAST Finger Launcher is particularly notable. You can assign an app to each of your fingers and launch apps as soon as you unlock your phone using fingerprint authentication. If you configure the cashless payment application to start up instantly from the lock screen, you can save yourself the hassle at the cash register.

"When it comes to UI design, I believe the most important aspects are usability and the experience that comes with it. For example, when it comes to smartphones, unlocking our device is something we do very frequently. I believe that it is meaningful to review and make progress on the steps that we have to take every time as a matter of course.
If we could reduce the time it takes to unlock and launch an app from 5 seconds each time, the total time saved could be enormous when tens of thousands of people have the same experience in the future. I think that the ability to have a small impact on a large number of people is a rewarding aspect of smartphone design," says Misawa.

The design that enables users to feel the advanced technology of a 5G-compatible device is what makes the arrows 5G F-51A unique. Looking at the smartphone market, foreign manufacturers such as Apple in the U.S.; Samsung in South Korea; and Xiaomi, OPPO, and Huawei in China dominate. Considering these circumstances, was there any aspect that they were particular about as a Japanese manufacturer?

"From the planning stages, we wanted to incorporate the most suitable software based on the trends and needs of the current Japanese market," explains Misawa. In recent years, high-volume video viewing and high quality game applications that consume a large amount of memory are popular in Japan. With this in mind, we wanted to provide features that allow users to quickly and comfortably operate even heavy applications such as videos and games, so we came up with FAST App Drive.

FAST App Drive allows you to quickly launch apps that have been registered in advance. It enables users to use applications without stress, since it normally takes a long time to launch a heavy game application.

"As a Japanese manufacturer, we took into account the needs of the market in the planning and concept stages before creating the UI. However, with regard to the UI design, the idea was not to reflect the Japanese style. The ideal UI is one that can be used intuitively without difficulty, and as something that is communicated in a non-verbal way, there is no need to force something uniquely Japanese into it.

The UI design process starts with thinking about what issues need to be solved. I think it is important to create screens that symbolize functions and values and think about how to incorporate them into the user's life without making them extravagant or flashy. In the end, I believe that the ideal UI is something the user barely notices—it should feel like air. And that's the kind of UI we tried to create," says Misawa.

The arrows 5G F-51A offers users a brand-new, unique UI experience. In the second part of this article, Misawa will introduce the parts of the UI design for the arrows 5G F-51A that he was most particular about and struggled with, as well as the importance of design.

Related Information

• Creating a UI that Allows Users to Experience the Speed of 5G (Part 2)—arrows 5G F-51A  >
• GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2020 (Awards) (Japanese text only) >
• arrows 5G F -51 A (External site: FCNT Limited)(Japanese text only) >