Contextual User Interfaces: Neuer Trend?

Auf ReadWriteWeb gibt’s einen interessanten Artikel zum Thema Contextual User Interfaces:

Strikingly, the recent wave of UI innovation is proving exactly the opposite. Users are not stupid, and in fact, they were overwhelmed with choices presented in traditional UIs. The new interfaces are winning people over because they are based on usage patterns instead of choices. The key thing about new UIs is that they are contextual – presenting the user with minimal components and then changing in reaction to user gestures. Thanks to Apple, we have seen a liberating movement towards simplistic, contextual interfaces. But can these UIs become the norm? In this post we take a look at the rise of the contextual UI and ponder if they will cross the chasm.

Sind diese User Interfaces aus eurer Sicht etwas Neues? Meiner Meinung nach gab es so etwas, zumindest ansatzweise, schon früher. In den Kommentaren wird ja auch auf den Aufgabenbereich von Microsoft Office 2003 verwiesen (im Screenshot rot markiert). Neu ist allerdings das Ausmaß der Reduktion von Interface Elementen. Office zeigt ja neben dem Aufgabenbereich auch alle anderen Menüs an und bietet so zwei verschiedene Zugänge an.

der Aufgabenbereich von MS Office

Nachtrag:

Direct Manipulation in Microsoft Word 2007 :

Word 2007

43. interaction design stammtisch

weil spanien fußball-eMeister ist gibt’s wieder einen interaction design stammtisch

dienstag, 8.7.2008 um 19:00 uhr
im werkzeugH, 1050 wien, schönbrunnerstr 61 [öffis: u4 pilgramgasse, 14a, 13a, 12a, 59a]

“bring’ 2 folien” hat bei den letzten stammtischen super funktioniert und darum: jede, die möchte, bringt 1-2 slides über das, was sie gerade im bereich interaction design, usability, … beschäftigt/interessiert mit … und stellt sie vor!

der interaction design stammtisch findet jeden monat am 2. dienstag statt. jede, die sich für die themen interaction design, usability, accessibility, user interface design, … interessiert, ist herzlich eingeladen

anmeldung ist keine notwendig

ps: nächstes mal gibt’s, wenn frau sonja dieses mal slides mitbringt, auch einen neuen reminder text — versprochen, aber nur dann

Usability Challenge 2008

Maybe some of you have already heard something about the usability challenge.

“On 1 August 2008, we are asking anyone with a passion for usability to solve a usability problem…any usability problem at all…and help make the world a better/safer/less annoying place.”

———————- Doesn’t sound that “wonderful” ? ———————–
What you have to do:

1) Find a usability problem
2) Design a solution
3) Share it with a person who can solve the problem by implementing your solution
There is also a Google and Facebook Group about it, where you can join. We could also talk about it in our next “stammtisch” – a bit variation to our daily usbility problems we discuss. Maybe we find a good solution for something.

Or someboday likes to bring 2 slides for the problem? Jürgen maybe? 😉

Paper

On april 29th an 30th I had the opportunity to take part on a workshop called “From User Stories to User Interface Design“ held by catalysts, (Christoph Steindl and Christian Federspiel). These guys are rather not User Interface Designers but more Software Engineers and Project Managers who got a lot of experience in software development projects at e.g. IBM, Siemens and VAI. So I was very curious about the workshop.

Actually I just had time to visit the second day, but nevertheless it was a great experience and brought me some kind of aha-effects, which I’ll try to describe.

Bill Buxton’s book “Sketching User Experiences” layed the base for most of the examples we went through. But get a bit more into detail. Of course every UI Designer knows about Paper Prototyping. But when was the last time you built a paper prototype in a group of 3 to 4 Interaction Designers, tested it with real users, redesigned it and presented the whole stuff to an audience? And all that within one hour?



pictures: http://www.nngroup.com

Of course one and one the most stunning points is quality & speed. When you create a paper prototype, test it (with three to five users) redesign it on base of this feedback and do this process again.

Using e.g. HTML prototypes for this procedure normally takes me several days. Concentrating too early on the graphic-design is also one of the problems I have to face as a designer. But the second (and maybe far more interesting) point for me is that when I use paper for a prototype (which takes me normally 30 to 60 minutes) I have absolutely no problem to throw it away again. And this is definitely not the case with my HTML prototypes: “Well, now I spend that much time yet, I can’t do this all again. Let’s see what we can use”. The barrier for making a compromise is much, much lower with paper. And that’s an interesting argument, I think.

As mentioned, several examples can be found in Bill Buxtons book. Here is one I really love …

For over 40 years Bob Spence has pursued research in two fields, engineering design and human-computer interaction. He is a fellow of the IEEE and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.