iPhone app Usability vs. Portal Usability

In general, we have been seeing the usability of iPhone apps dominate the usability results from Web Portal applications we have been testing.  The results are fairly astonishing and in our view points to Apple's laser focus on making UX mission critical to their charter.  At the same time Apple employees are very stealth like in terms of how this process is implemented.  I feel that many large organizations can learn from their success in this area.  Any former Apple people that are free to talk about their focus on UX there and what we as a field can learn???  I'm specifically interested in taking their UX approach and applying it to UX for Healthcare and Financial Services.

Any thoughts on Apple's approach?

               - Tony

Tony J. Brown, Ph.D.

SoftPlex, Inc.

Tel. 781-729-8055

tony@softplex.com

P.S.  It took me three days to finally figure out how to switch this conversation to digest mode.  Traveling for business in Hong Kong & Shanghai and got spammed with an inbox full of IxDA messages (ugh).