Small little note about this: I wrote this at 4am, now that I look at I have realized that I think I made it seem like current UIs are barbaric and unusable… which is certainly not true as if that were the case then you wouldn’t be reading this would you? Also, I was overly excited about touch technology. It’s great, and I do think it will make computer much easier to use for a wide audience, so to speak, but it’s hardly the answer and I’m not quite sure that it can be used with every application and task on a computer (mainly due to the lack of precision). I might… write something… different later on.
Look, I’ll just say it: The way humans interact with computers is incorrect. You see, if computers were the way they should be there would be almost no learning curve at all, for any task. When I say “any task” I’m not referring to specific functions within applications; Things like video editing, software development, 3D modeling are all complex because they have to be (however, I still think I could design [not build] a better Maya). Anyone, not matter what their background is, or intelligence level (something that isn’t considered nearly as often as it should be in design) should be able to site down at ANY computer an immediately be able to figure out what it is they want to do and how to do it. I’m not crazy (in writing this at least), this is doable to some extent. The problems stem from two main issues: how we physically interact with our machines and popular UI design.
What are the ways we “physically interact” with our machines? Keyboard and mouse for the most part, maybe a some other specific task peripheral (ie. Wacom Tablet). When you think about it, these devices aren’t right. Remember way back at last year’s Macworld Expo, the one where Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time? Well, you probably don’t remember because you were too busy drooling over the shiny new thing to listen to what he was saying. Anyway, at one point he started talking about why the iPhone had very few buttons and was mostly touch screen. He said this was because you need the buttons to change, they shouldn’t always be there, specific options should appear in specific situations. Makes sense when you think about it. You really limit yourself when you have predetermined options.
Now due to our current systems of input with our machines, the UIs have evolved accordingly, only they haven’t really evolved. Go back to the first computer with a GUI, we’ll just say it’s the PARC for right now because it had WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointing Device) unlike the NLS ( video ) which had hyperlinks and a cursor (though it also had Video chat and email in 1968!). So, even PARC had a GUI that isn’t too far from what we have to day. Sure, we have better graphics and the UI elements have improved some, but the foundations are pretty much the same. Why haven’t we advanced? Why hasn’t anyone try to improve this or do anything radically different? OK, well that’s not true. There have been variations. If you have had the chance to take a look at the OLPC, you’ll see that it’s pretty unique in the UI department, it has very minimal verbal instruction or labeling, and it’s kinda shaped like a wheel. I’m not a huge fan of the OLPC UI, probably because I’ve been trained by the traditional GUIs.
We haven’t tried to fuss with the UI because for the most part is work OK, not great but OK, and for most people apparently that is just OK. Also, there hasn’t ever been a clear step as to where we could go next… until now.
Touch, my friends, is the solution. Now touch is nothing new , it’s been around since 1971 (ok, not commercially until about ‘83 with the HP-150). Even Multi-touch, the thing that makes your parents or not-very-close friends over the age of 35 ooh and ah every time you whip out your trusty device, has been around since ‘82 with uTorronto and Bell Labs (Quick side note: A company called FingerWorks actually sold multi-touch input devices as recently as 2001 and later, but the founders left… and Joined Apple in ‘05 to work on… well you know). What we need is Multi-Touch right in the display (which exists) … sold commercially.
So, what makes touch so great? Well you get everything you have now: the mouse and the keyboard, but then you also get something else: gestures. Yep, gestures, which enable you to move, expand, and shrink objects on screen as well as move, shrink and expand the workspace itself. Forget screen real-estate, it’s almost endless! Besides the basics, gestures can be made for almost any task. Imagine you could launch a frequently used application by making a zig-zag motion on screen. Touch kinda makes the whole desktop think obsolete, and applications are going to be better experienced in fullscreen (but windows are still possible). You would basically bring what you need up when you need it.
So, this is all pretty possible, in fact it all pretty much exists, just not together and in a form where we can get at it. Computer users need to keep an open mind about the future, because in only a few years out humble UI could be completely different.
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OK I just wanted to write one other quick thing. Just about the only thing that hasn’t been accomplished in the Touch technologies world is tactile feedback. Like buttons that rise up from the screen. Sounds pointless now, but it’s almost necessary because the alternative is touch typing on a flat surface, and for people who can type quickly, it’s gonna be painful (probably would also cause had and wrist issues, might be a good study for a someone?). There are a few patents on this, but I have yet to see anything really demoed (know about one? ben@bengold.tv). I’m also considering filing a patent for a solution to this that I thought of… earlier today. :P
