Please don't read this notice.
(Not only did you read it, but you went on to read this parenthetical note.)
Cognetics
The ergonomics of the brain
Habituation
Never use a warning when you mean undo.
Hick's and Fitts' Law
Hierarchical menus are evil!
Forgotten Tools
- GOMs
- Information Efficiency
- http://www.humanized.com/weblog
The Death of the Desktop is Near
Why?
What's an interface?
- The way that you accomplish tasks with a product — what you do and how it responds — that's the interface.
To the user,
the interface is the product.
The Shovel Analogy
A Shovel
The Shovel Analogy
The important part of the shovel.
The Shovel Analogy
The interface of the shovel.
The Shovel Analogy
Cost saving: the interface doesn't matter...
The Shovel Analogy
Microsoft's Solution
"I don't know what percentage of our time on any computer based project is spent getting the equipment to work right, but if I had a gardener who spent as much of the time fixing her shovel as we spend fooling with our computers, I'd buy her a good shovel. At least you can buy a good shovel." — Erasmus Smums
Keep Simple Things Simple
Setting a Digital Watch
[This is a quote from the manual]
- Press and hold SET. SECONDS digits will flash.
- Press SPLIT/RESET to set SECONDS to zero.
- Press MODE to select HOURS.
- Press SPLIT/RESET to advance hours digits. Go through 12 hours for AM or PM.
- Press MODE to select MINUTES, press SPLIT/RESET to advance.
- Repeat to set MONTH, DATE, DAY, 12- or 24-hour time display.
- Press SET when done.
Setting an Analog Watch
[This is a quote from the manual]
Other Simple Things That Aren't
- Cell phones
- Rounded corners
- Adding an entry to Google Calendar
- Making a simple website mockup
The Shovel Analogy
It's not (all) Microsoft's fault
The Problem: Applications
Like Isolated Cities
The Application Centric Model
What's the solution?
How does this apply to the net?
"Begin at the beginning," the King said, gravely... — Alice in Wonderland
So, what does an interface do?
Hint: There are only 4 things...
What can you do with an interface?
- Create content
- Navigate content
- Select content
- Transform content
That's it!
When designing always return to these building blocks.
Asimov's Rules of Robotics
- A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Raskin's Rules of Interfaces
- An interface shall not harm your content or, through inaction, allow your content to come to harm.
- An interface shall not waste your time or require you to do more work than is strictly necessary.
- An interface shall not allow itself to get into a state where it cannot manipulate content.
Content
Is Everything
What dooms the desktop?
It's not about content!
What work do you get done here?
What does the desktop do?
- Lets you get the computer into a state where you can enter content
- Lets you categorize your content
- Lets you navigate to your content
There are better, faster,
more humane ways!
The web is a treasure-trove of examples.
Language
has untapped power.
Language
has untapped power.
1. Get to a state to enter content
- Command Line Interfaces
- Spotlight/Google Desktop Search
- Humanized's Enso Launcher
2. Categorization
Tags | Search
The death of forced hierarchy
3. Navigation
- Let content be content
- Let search be search
- Let 2D content be 2D content
(windows are 3D!)
- Let the user's structure be (don't force hierarchies)
3. Navigation
The Desktop is Doomed
Why the stagnation?
The Toolkit Straitjacket
We Have a Unique Opportunity
We must not return to the desktop
How can we overcome applications?
Does the net suggestion a solution?
The solution:
Services
Universal Access Interface
Services
- Stand on the shoulders of giants (and midgets)
- Mashups
- Separation of UI from backend
- Services are for end-users and developers
Access
"The more 'applications' I try forcing into a tabbed web MDI model under a Mac, the more clumsy it gets. They aren't in my Dock, they can't be apple-tabbed through. Issues like this really frustrate me as I find myself wanting to use more web2.0 ajaxy fancy pants programs." — Slashdot Post
Access
- Current methods are not scalable
I'm talking to you, bookmarklets
- URL bar is limited
- Need a fast, semantic method
An Example: Enso
Marries the power of:
- GUIs with CLIs
- CLIs with semantic language
- Semantic language with services
Design the
The Big Picture
Challenge: Can you think of other solutions.
The Take-Home Message
- Content
- Language
- Services
- Unification
We are the future of interfaces!
The Death of the Desktop
