Next OS X and desktop ?= mobile

In user experience design, it is very common to approach desktop platforms different from the mobile platforms. On the technical side, desktop brings larger screen space, faster cpu, continuous internet connectivity, and a mouse/keyboard based interaction. On the user behavior side, users are assumed to be more focused and less in a rush, and spending more time, surfing, working, designing, etc…

But since the introduction of iPhones and iPads and Androids, we are seeing that the differences above that are taken for granted seem to disappear. Today, Apple released the developer beta version of its next OS X release, OS X Mountain Lion, and the new features list proved to be a very significant example of how the boundaries between mobile and desktop platforms are disappearing. The features that will be adapted to OS X are below:

• Applications like Messages, Notes, Reminders: These basic functionality that are unified between iPad and iPhone is now coming to desktop.
• Notifications: MacOS never had a decent notification system and there were 3rd party applications like Growl to fill that hole. Now the notification system that was introduced first in iOS 5 is being ported to the next version of MacOS (note that, Apple dropped the ‘Mac’ from the name, but I will use both versions for clarity).
• Twitter integration: Self speaking.
• Game Center: another integration with iOS devices to enable social gaming features.

You can read more about these features in the Gizmodo article.

What is interesting? The desktop inheriting mobile features

It is very interesting to see that the mobile platforms used to be pushed to its limits to do the tasks and provide the features that their desktop counterparts used to do. Feature list which started only with making calls grew as new features added: send email, listen to music, check calendar, etc… They used to be a stripped down version of desktop platforms.

In this OS X example, now we see that the features that are designed for iOS being added to its desktop counterpart, blurring the borders between mobile and desktop platforms and I believe this is more than just unifying their OS experiences. I believe this is also the result of mobile platforms taking the lead on innovative design in operating systems. In the 4 years, iOS had seen 5 major releases whereas MacOS had 3. On OS X Lion release, it already imported many of the iOS features including LaunchPad, fullscreen mode for apps and touch gestures.  The Metro interface from Microsoft is first introduced with Windows Phones, and now it is being implemented into the next version of Windows Operating System.

I am quiet enthusiastic to observe the effects of this shift, as minimalist designs in mobile applications and operating systems can have great effect on simplifying today’s operating systems.

History of the Button

Flash is the technology, HTML5 is the adaptor.

I wanted to write down my thoughts upon reading the Smashing Magazine article on the gradual disappearance of Flash on the web. Along with the recent discussions rising from Apple’s moves on clearing Flash from the face of the earth, web and  iDevices, it stimulated many of us to think if HTML5 can really replace Flash.

Without drilling into technical details, I think holistically:

Flash (and Adobe as a company) had always been the graffiti guy of the leading technology for the web. It led the technology on the web.

HTML5 and CSS had always been the catching-up standardization officers. They adapted the technology.
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A visualization master

Moritz Stefaner is a visualization artist, holding a B.Sc. in Cognitive Science and an M.A. in Interface Design. Currently, he is employed as a research assistant at FH Potsdam on the MACE project and work as a freelance information visualizer. His slides on data visualization are an amazing summary for where we are right now, what trends are out there, and how cool working with visualization is.

Eigenfactor is a non-commercial academic research project by the Bergstrom lab in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington. The goal is to map the structure of science. Together, we are developing different visualizations based on citation patterns between scientific journals.

taken from his website.

Ten Commandments of User Experience

Nick Finck and Raina Van Cleave’s presentation slides from the SXSWi talk are up. Here’s a summary:

User experiences are your everyday experiences—anything from operating a car, to making a pot of coffee, to ordering a pair of shoes online. User experience is the result of your interactions with a product or service, specifically how it’s delivered and its related artifacts according to the design.

In this presentation Nick Finck and Raina Van Cleave will explore the ten characteristics of a great user experience. They will cover all aspects of user experience design such as user research, information architecture, information design, technical writing, interaction design, visual design, brand identity design, accessibly, usability and web analytics. Nick and Raina will also explain how following the ten commandments can boost your web sites, web app, or mobile app’s ease of use, appeal, conversion rates, and more.
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Sustainable Web Design (??)

So, for a second, think about those days in the automotive industry of 1960s, when the oil prices were low while cars were an oil hog. And nobody was wondering to ask about CO2 emissions of a vehicle to a car dealer. Now that, climate change is on the news and green products are all the engineers and designers working on, it is ok to seek for the car with the highest mpg. That’s how we are becoming more aware of the sustainable design, and learning to be more sustainable as individuals.

Now, for yet another second, think about a concept I would call Sustainable Web Design.

Can we make websites that are more sustainable?

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