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:2005-11-10
And may I add to this an hour long video of how the ribbon was designed with tons of wacky prototypes, and backed up the up with user-testing that proved the shortcomings of the old interface. This is real must to watch if you've any interest in the process of UI design.
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/the-story-of-the-r...
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Member since:
2005-09-21
Thom, I'm sure you've probably read the Why the New UI? series on the office blogs. It's a fantastic read discussing the rationale for the new Office 2007 UI, and the difficulties in presenting features. It also solidly crushes the 90% myth with real data.
One of the best series of articles about UI design in the wild that I've read. http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/tags/Why+the+New+UI_3F00_/def...