These are supposedly pictures of the forthcoming Apple tablet user interface. Take these with a grain of salt, no doubt. It is likely that they were dreamt up by a fan.
What struck me about this design was how the keyboard was floated in a movable layer. I really like that idea. Because the tablet hardware would be a new form factor for many users, it may take a while for each person to find a comfortable position for the keyboard in terms of location on the screen/device, and in regards to the content being displayed on the screen. I assume a tablet could be rotated and held in many positions, so the optimal location for the keyboard could change in different situations.
For example, if the user is typing an email, they would prefer to have the keyboard front and center and taking up a large percentage of screen space. If someone is entering a search string, they may want the keyboard to be in a corner of the screen and smaller so they can focus on the search results. These scenarios also suggest that users may want to change the size of the keyboard depending on their mode. Of course, if the user is routinely changing the location and size of the keyboard, they will not be able to enter text very quickly.
I like the floating keyboard design because it makes this trade off from speed of keystrokes to customization and flexibility. This encourages exploration and experimentation within a new ui which could lead to entirely new and unexpected interactions.
[via TechCrunch]
What struck me about this design was how the keyboard was floated in a movable layer. I really like that idea. Because the tablet hardware would be a new form factor for many users, it may take a while for each person to find a comfortable position for the keyboard in terms of location on the screen/device, and in regards to the content being displayed on the screen. I assume a tablet could be rotated and held in many positions, so the optimal location for the keyboard could change in different situations.
For example, if the user is typing an email, they would prefer to have the keyboard front and center and taking up a large percentage of screen space. If someone is entering a search string, they may want the keyboard to be in a corner of the screen and smaller so they can focus on the search results. These scenarios also suggest that users may want to change the size of the keyboard depending on their mode. Of course, if the user is routinely changing the location and size of the keyboard, they will not be able to enter text very quickly.
I like the floating keyboard design because it makes this trade off from speed of keystrokes to customization and flexibility. This encourages exploration and experimentation within a new ui which could lead to entirely new and unexpected interactions.
[via TechCrunch]
Labels: alternative ui, user experience
posted by Shawn Elson on Thursday, August 27, 2009
I have assembled a fair amount of furniture and I always worry that I am not setting bolts and screws at the right tension. Too little tension leaves the piece of furniture wobbly and possibly weakened over time. Too much tension and wood (especially particle board) can splinter and unseat a bolt. Too much tension and you also could strip the bolt.
Last year, 
I have been around a few medical emergency situations and thoughI think it is common for these situations to be stressful, I am always surprised at just how incredibly stressful they end up being. The last thing a would-be helper needs at these moments is confusion around how to help the person in need. As a result, I am a big fan of the design efforts many health care product companies put into their user experiences.
I also like how the instructional cards "show instead of tell" the user how to treat an injury. This is a typical usability heuristic, or rule of thumb. The system should not overload the user with text to read when instructions can be explained through a simple visual. No one has time to read a paragraph of text from a medical journal in the middle of a stressful situation.
