About the Talk
Are we controlling our computers, or are they controlling us? The case for a better model for user interfaces was introduced at BIL 2009, and in my followup talk for BIL 2010, I will demonstrate some proposed solutions, and a way for people to get involved.
As we interact with more and more screens in our daily lives, we need to find a way to retake control of our tools by making them easier to use and get them to work for us instead of the other way around.
I will show how we can get rid of applications, file folders, windows, mice, alert boxes, and other banes of modern computing – all while getting more done and being happier doing it.
Open source enthusiasts are encouraged to attend and participate afterwards.
About the Speaker
Jayson Elliot is the Director of User Experience for Greater Than One, and a practitioner of usability design since 1994.
Lightful.org is his open source project to re-imagine interfaces from user-centered design principles.
Past Talks
BIL2009 – Rethinking the Modern GUI
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Here are the principles Jayson lays out on his site, which I think are worth reflecting on before seeing the talk.
http://lightful.ning.com/profiles/blogs/lightful-principles
MODELESS
The same action, performed on the same object, never results in a different outcome.
MONOTONOUS
Rather than choosing among multiple ways to issue a command, there is exactly one way to achieve any given task.
SUBSERVIENT
Assume your users are intelligent. Assume your users are busy.
INTERRUPTIBLE
Nothing your computer is doing is more important that you. Every process must be instantly interruptible.
PERSISTENT
The system should remain in the exact state it was when the user last left it.
FORGIVING
No error should be irreversible. All actions should be undoable, no matter how trivial or large, or how far in the past.
VISIBLE
System status should always be visible for all actions, even if the information seems too “low level” for the user.
INVISIBLE
The interface only exists to support the user’s actual task. Never let the interface become the focus of the user’s attention.
#BIL10
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