It's all started with a simple phrase i've posted couple days ago: "w.bloggar is the good tool to post everywhere..." and my quest for a user interface that does not take attention aWay from primary information activities: reading, typing, sketching, and looking at something...
Update: w.bloggar is good, but too much resembles the word processor with all of the buttons and controls
What I'm looking for is a simple application that allow me type text, hyperlink it, format it, and then determine where this text is going: e-mail or maybe save it on the local hard drive or stick it on the web or... maybe it's a piece of code to compile.
...ah, well! It seem that i have to write it myself :). Another failed attempt to avoid an
increasing entropy (make sure that you spell it right ;).
Think for a moment about it: software on computers is overloaded with ui features: menus, buttons, toolbars, browser companions... We are not using programs anymore, instead we're
navigating, browsing, selecting, clicking, dragging, dropping. Much less time left for typing, sketching or handwriting and the most important,-
less time for thinking. I personnaly spending many priceless moments of my time preparing the user interface for specific action: sent e-mail or writing a little essay. Then I spent another chunk of time organizing results of my activities on my local hard drive. and if I would not do it, - my information property is f*cked up. Our thoughts in sofware development are about improving productivity of a person who works with computer through an user interface that is not designed for a productivity, but to give multiple choice at any given moment... It does not work this way. I guess that first crop of primates using sticks to dig did not have all this luxury of multiple choice user interface with a stick. They did not need it! They've
invented other effective uses of the same stick.
Usability? we don need no sinkin' ...
problem
It's all because of an *ugly*and
overfeatured user interfaces, - we have *the usability problem*. i just laughted after a momentary thought about cave men in discussion about *usability problem* of a stick used to hit branches with ripe fruits. There's no such thing as *usability problem*, *usability study* - is a correct term, and it is a
half-of-an-invention, because it's a
study about inconveniences when something is used.
Capability
There at least few promising ways to approach the *non-ugly* (i intentionally did not use words like ideal, excellent or beautiful) visual user interface:
1. so called *
skins* - not as cool image with a bunch of tweaks, but rather skins that use css-style layouts that binds to functional presentation layout (XHTML is an example of a functional presentation layout).
2. XUL (from Mozilla.org) is a good attempt, but it seem very heavy yet... it gotta become scalable - similar to J2EE, J2SE and J2ME, but for the user interface.
3. Macromedia Flash - i have not studied it deep enough, but it's obviously is a *tool of choice* for the *best looking* interfaces on the web. I'd say Macromedia Flash is a high-end of a user interface fashion...
4. I bet there are some more...
Decoupling
To make the user interface *usable* :) few things have to be achieved in sofware architecture too. And the first one - decoupling of a mysterious *business logic* and *the presentation*. It's been a subject of numerous studies, and created zillions of design practices, but still hangin' around... as a design problem. It's no more a design problem, it's big enough to be a subject of the techonology. Technology is about improving something, so now it's a time to
invent the technology of decoupling a presentation software from a business logic sofware . Does not it seem familiar? Oh yeah, that's a new kid in a buzz-words block. It's been called different though - Service Oriented Architecture (SOA for short). Maybe?! Its current promises are fuzzy and non-validated, but it may grow-up someday, if it would not screw-up too... :)
The Game
The sofware model, described briefly here, introduces new shape of a software market, where talented and successful artist is able to sell it's user interface work independently from
original software manufacturer (OSM). You'd say what to do with brand promotion? I say, - nothing! There are another ways to promote
OSM brands, similar to market of vendors in other industry sectors.
We still have some troubles to overcome, - a controversy around
Copyright Laws. Right now there are almost polar camps: RIAA and EFF, SCO and OpenSource. RIAA wants almost a monopoly in music products distribution. and SCO wants money from something they've had, but could not make a successful product. Same thing could happen with software industry combined with designer industry... right? What has to happen, in order to move on, is
the appearance of third parties that just want to have good business instead of protecting the greed. Creative Commons has that potential, but does not provide enough commercial copyright control yet. Existing Patent Laws are not efficient anymore, because of inability to catch on with a pace of invention, and therefore invalidating itselves. Every BigCo software vendors are desperate to retain a grip on market to ensure continuing business. All this will never disappear, - it's a part of *a game*, - you just
have to watch your back.
