After lengthy review by the panel of independent judges (see below), we are delighted to release the short-lists for 2008 MEX Mobile User Experience Awards. The winners will be officially announced at a special evening reception in London on 27th May, the opening night of the 4th annual MEX conference.

Congratulations to all those who made the short-list and thanks to everyone who participated. Your creativity and attention to user-centred design principles has provided a fantastic showcase for mobile user experience innovation.

Commercial category

– Taptu

– Zeemote

– Mobyko

– Vuzix

Freelance category

– Flat Music Player

– Cloudaware

– BSR Blind Phone

Professional category

– My Link Wireless Accessory

– Couple IT

– MoDist

Student category

– Context aware

– Pixie TV

– MyView

MEX Mobile User Experience Innovator of the Year

– Taptu

– BSR Blind Phone

– MyView

The process

The judges were universally impressed by the quality and breadth of entries received, making the judging process a difficult and exhaustive task. The judges focused on the following 5 principles when making their decision:

1) The central challenge of the Design Competition was: “Design an interface, idea or product to delight customers and enhance the mobile user experience.”

2) Specifically, we asked contestants to show us how their product met the needs of their target user. We wanted to encourage people to design for individuals rather than broad, inaccurate market segments. The judges considered how detailed the contestants had been in their description of the user and how well suited their design was to that user’s needs.

3) The Competition was also designed to encourage new innovation. The judges looked at each entry and asked whether it represented a cutting edge mobile user experience?

4) The public vote count and public comments were also considered.

5) Overall, the judges were looking for ientries which balanced a clear understanding of users as individuals with a flair for solving user experience issues through innovative design.

The judges