|
In Focus... iPhone vs Android? will it be similar to Mac vs PC of the 1980s? iPhone delivers the Original Internet Promise? I have always maintained that the commercial fallout of the internet and B2C in the 90s was not due to 'revenue model' issues. It was the interface, stupid! And the interface is not just a point and click thing- it about the way you interact with the machine to accomplish tasks- or rather avoiding those cumbersome things that you should not be doing, which undermine the very 'reach-out' advantage of the net. My temporal browsing patent is finally getting interesting, as backup and version control get built into Operating Systems, but yet lack proper rewind/forward interfaces... |
|
saumilzx::UI Design
User Interfaces have an ease of use? Yes, for sure. As of today, computers can repeat tasks quickly and consistenly. That sure has helped in the last two decades. For instance, a computer can book you as many air-tickets you need. But if you change your flight, good luck with your meal preferences. Enhancements in clock speed and memory have helped in repeating tasks at larger scales, but to track variations and ensure information is in synch with the basic needs- interfaces need to enforce a sense of purpose not just a point-click or pinch-tap type ease of use. |
|
The Computer Industry has lagged behind in assessing the value of User Interfaces- not just the graphical ones but how a user interacts with the machine, networks and peripherals in totality and each component with each other. Apple has led the way for 2 decades, after Xerox invented most of the great things we see around the digital world. Yet, in my view UIs have stagnated and all advances in clock speed and memory (and internet bandwidth) have not translated in relieving us of many mundane chores and work-arounds needed to get work done. And it is not just about computers. Remember they told us that fax machines would be obsolete and so would CD-ROMs replace text books in the early '90s. Well our industry has failed! I had to buy a fax machine two years back to meet the demands of the travel industry. eBooks anyone? Many paper and ink type flexi-screens have propped up- but without proper copyright protection (about copy-paste and e-Share for free), do not expect the next Harry Potter or Lonely Planet on your eGizmo (as I write, iPhone 3G/iTunes has some Lonely Planet Phrasebooks as a travel app! Mobile Phones can solve user-identity and payment issues). It all has to do with the way we design and interface products to either fit into or overcome legacy (habits and more importantly- past business/work policies which weigh us down). |
|
Behind the scenes- what I may be working on... Nomenclature to reflect reality: In my view, it is important for the industry to develop a clear nomenclature to measure digital/virtual procedures in terms of real life numbers- time, money, effort. Clock speed in Mhz does not indicate how much time it takes to do a real practical job, since half the time goes in interaction and managing the project. Likewise Kbps or Mbps is not a good indicator about what one can achieve in real time- what duration of a DVD quality movie can be downloaded in a given time and then writing it to a 16X writer, saves how much actual time as compared to a 4x writer?. The common users will always struggle to find out such things. And these are just the basic time/memory issues. The real challenge will be to measure the worth of an interface in actual time and effort. The user invovement, errors, inconsistencies, specific sequences, assumptions, what if the project specs change?, Repeating or redoing tasks which need not be touched, etc.,- these are issues which affect the final project time. |