Boxes and Arrows: Comments by Clifton Evans

Clifton Evans — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 18:54:18 GMT

Finally, someone managed to sum up at least a good half of the usability problems with the desktop metaphor! And, without going into the somewhat abstract Sematic Information Modelling Paradigm Logic (SIMPLE), again.

I particularly liked the quote: ”...is like a dialect private to an isolated town: as soon as we leave, we are forced to use the computer equivalent of grunts and hand signals.”

Great example! What isolated towns usually have is a language that is common with their neighbors, so they can trade photos, money and email! I did quite a bit of time on languages and communities in my masters so I’m very happy with this metaphor. My only worry is that some languages will die out if there is too much ‘extensibility’ (like OpenDoc) if there isn’t any support in the surrounding ‘villages’, the languages will disappear, perhaps even faster than languages die in the real world.

So, what’s the practical option? Want to make one??? Should we?? A village-to-village platform? VTV? I’d be happy as a dog in a field running from village to village to be a part of it.

A good place to look for starters, and perhaps what not to do, would be Haystack, via MIT:

http://haystack.lcs.mit.edu/

Now, they’ve been barking up this tree for a while, but something about it doesn’t quite sit right with me. I don’t think they are heading in the right direction. If you want to chat about it, email me, I’ve got tons of ideas on the back burner waiting to become soup de jour!

CD.

Clifton Evans — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:00:10 GMT

Thank you all for your comments, all good discussion and feedback.

All appologies if the zen aspect seems to be the forefront, I’m not an avid practitioner, or even a slight one. My knowledge on the reality of the subject is limited to the osmosis of growing up within the reasonably eastern populous of vancouver.

Here’s an article on the same stuff from fast company. They are flogging the notion of one page designs, dashboarding, minimalization, that type of thing. Worth it for the comparability.

http://blog.fastcompany.com/experts/pscrivens/2007/05/the…

Thanks again
Clifton Evans

Clifton Evans — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:32:07 GMT

Just to reply about the art / design / science comments, I’m simply saying the field in general is based too heavily on scientific and research approaches. Computers are something that live in people’s lives, in their homes, and they should be designed with this in mind. The interface is like a book, a lot of people need narrative, creativity, emotion, and other artistic values in order for it to be interesting. Most interfaces are drawn on purely functional values, making them the equivalent of non-fiction books, or even more specifically, resource books.

Many people are still tied to the idea of the computer as a functional work tool, an ideology that is now very dated. The majority of users now see it as a communications device, for entertainment, and other possibilities. The interfaces need to reflect this, the field needs to be more like interior design, or architecture, where the social values of the environment play the key factor.

Like it or not, design is an arts discipline, and some even argue it is a fine art. My opinion, I would simply say that design is a form of contemporary art, perhaps a solely commercial one, but one that the public has the opportunity to embrace. By ignoring this simple fact we abandon our relationship with the culture we live in, and provide designs which aren’t able to represent public interest.