Page Updated

29 August 2007

Enso

Other interesting interface concepts are discussed at Humanized, the company recently formed by Aza Raskin (son of the famous Raskin). They offer a commercial project called Enzo but check their blog for very interesting topics.

More General Thoughts

You can also read some of my articles published in OSNews that might explain better my motivation. The first is about the IT sector. The second is describing the current state of computer desktops. The third one is about the vault.

Manifesto

The desktop metaphor is obsolete. The number of files in a single workstation forces us to reconsider the user interface of current computers. WIMP Interfaces (windows icons menus pointers) need to go away.

User interfaces should be simple, discoverable adaptable. Casual users should find their way easily after some minutes. Intermediate users should be able to delve a little deeper. Power users should resort to the command line if they want to do something extraordinary.

User interfaces should be fast. The hourglass is evil. Having to wait for the system in only acceptable because of hardware/infrastructure limitations (downloading a file/writing a DVD). If it is not impossible to have a fast interface at least go for one that "feels" fast.

Unix GUI applications should mirror the console ones. They should be small, reusable and focused on a single area. Monolithic designs are to be avoided. It should be easy to obsolete, replace or upgrade functionality.

Fixed layouts are a thing of the past. A window should be resizable and adaptable to its screen area. Non overlapping window managers should have no problems with any applications. Dialogs should be avoided.

When computing resources allow for it, vector scalable graphics should be everywhere. Zooming interfaces have their purpose. Zooming and panning is an alternative way of navigation.

Eye-Candy can be very effective if it is used correctly. It is hard to get it correctly at the first time.

Users should think in terms of tasks. Applications mean nothing to them. Wizards can be confusing. Getting lost in a sea of menus and toolbars is easy for the inexperienced.

The computer should do what it is best at. The same applies for the human user. Asking from the computer to perform complicated pattern recognition or behavior analysis means trouble. Asking the user to remember too many parameters is also ineffective.

There should be only two ways to accomplish a task. Following the beaten path (easy but slow) for the casual user or bypassing the path (hard but quicker) for the power user. Any other way might confuse the casual user or angry the power user.