Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 15th May 2008 21:10 UTC, submitted by Eugenia
Read Write Web has an interesting article on the concept of the contextual user interface. A contextual user interface - as the name implies - is an interface which adapts to the current wishes of its users, the context. The interface will change according to the actions the user takes; present a set of minimal options, and show other options as the user goes along. While the article makes some good points, it also contains some generalisations that I find rather debatable.
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Member since:
2006-02-26
In terms of interface complexity, there is a major divide between applications designed for consuming content and those designed for producing it.
In my opinion, content consumption applications like media players and just about everything on the web lend themselves to simplified and contextual interfaces.
On the other hand, content production applications, like Visual Studio, Word and Maya, will always have more complex interfaces because of the level of functionality they must provide.
I think there is certainly room to bring contextual interfaces to content production applications, but it takes a very keen sense of design to do it correctly.