iPhone mini

A friend of mine is currently working on a study on cell phone usability. While we were talking about this, she asked me what I thought the five most liked cell phone brands were. My immediate response was that Nokia and Apple were most likely in the top five, which started a conversation about the iPhone.

"Why do you think the iPhone is so popular?" she asked. "It's way too big!"

Of course, I didn't really think so. It never occurred to me that the iPhone was actually larger than other cell phones. In fact, I think its size is quite perfect. I can hold it in one hand and easily reach any part of the screen with my thumb:

Turns out she can't. Her hands are quite a bit smaller than mine, which means she has trouble using the iPhone with only one hand. When holding the iPhone in her left hand, she can't reach the top right corner without contorting her hand:

When people discuss the mythical iPhone mini Apple is ostensibly working on, they always assume that such a phone would have to have a smaller resolution. I disagree. I think a lot of people with smaller hands would love an iPhone with the exact same resolution, but about 10% less tall and wide.

In fact, it seems a lot of products are designed for adult male hands and could really benefit from a "small hands version".

Update

Wolf points out an example of this: Microsoft's original Xbox was catering to a male American audience and had a huge controller. The company later released a smaller controller for people with smaller hands, prompting a funny Penny Arcade comic.