Google’s choice of utility over beauty

Bruce Temkin, whose blog I follow fervently, just commented on the design approach taken by Google.  He felt conflicted after reading insights into Google’s method and raised the question of whether good design needs a soul.  It’s a great question. Here’s the comment I made:

There’s no question in my mind that Google does indeed take the soul out of their design. They’re so good at speed and utility that they can get away with it, but if it were an even choice between Google and another search that worked just as well, that had a more delightful design, there wouldn’t be any contest.
That said there’s always a tension between beautiful design and practical utility, and more often it’s better to achieve one really well than make something halfway between which is half as good. That Google chose to take the utilitarian approach meant they could focus on doing their thing without distraction, and clearly it worked out well. It’s a very rare company that can achieve both utility and gorgeous design.

My response is largely based on witnessing attempts (including my own) to achieve both utility and beauty that end in a disappointing compromise.  Apple is the company that does both utility and beauty – and proves it is possible to have both – but it’s very difficult to achieve what they do.  It’s no mistake that few other companies also achieve it.

Filed under: creative delivery, method, style, user interface, user-centred , apple, beauty, compromise, delight, design, google, method, soul, utilitarian, utility

Xbox 360 New Interface and Avatars

It seems like a fair time to revisit my previous post about the Xbox 360 digital facelift.

I started off by lamenting the work-in-progress nature of console interfaces these days.  Well generally the new Apple-style interface does seem an improvement over the very confusing ‘blades’ system, and the upgrade process was pleasantly fast and effortless.  Could they have fixed their previous interface without totally redesigning it?  I would say yes, but this isn’t so much about redesign…  

It’s immediately evident that the real objective for Microsoft is about introducing their avatars and opening up their marketing/sales opportunities for downloadable content. Most notably, while there are some usability improvements here, the amount of ads and sales channels are borderline irritating and introduce needless steps between turning on the console and playing a game.

Referring again to my previous post, I was concerned that Cover Flow wouldn’t work for the complexity of the menu options. I think I was half right there.  In addition to left-right navigation of the current menu, which is very pleasant and fits very well, they’ve added an up-down channel selection carousel which is rather less successful.  It’s definitely visually pleasing but I often find myself lost.

Comparing the avatars to the Miis on the Nintendo Wii, I’d say they made some mistakes:

Flexibility – Wii avatars allow for detailed customization (eg, choose exactly how far apart your eyebrows are) whereas the Xbox avatars are quite limited in their flexibility (I doubt we’ll see caricatures of famous people on Xbox)

Optional – Wii avatars are an option in many games and are found under a sub-section of the main menu, whereas Xbox avatars are forced upon you and shown front-and-centre whenever you start the console

Style – Although the Wii avatars have a cartoony cuteness about them, their high level of  simplification allows for a wide range of character styles to be made, whereas the Xbox avatars are firmly set in a cute, family-friendly style

Ulterior motive – there’s no doubt that the Xbox avatars are part of a plan to introduce monetized content (ie, pay for clothing upgrades)

Overall, I’ve no doubt that the target audience they are now aiming at will lap this up. The monetization and downloadable content features are also very impressive, if a little too geared towards Microsoft’s interests than the customer’s enjoyment.  One of the biggest factors in brand affinity is simply the question ‘is it me?’ and while they’ve given a new consumer segment good reasons to say Yes, I suspect there’s a large number of people from the established base who are a little doubtful in their answer now.

PS – I’ll save the usability horrors of the PS3 interface for another day – just so you know I’m not only about Microsoft-bashing

Filed under: 3D, folly, presentation, style, trends, user interface, user-centred , avatars, downloadable content, microsoft, miis, monetization, ui, usability, user experience, user interface, wii, xbox 360

Web Without Words Reveals Clutter Overload Is Still Common

I just came across this site which is doing a very interesting experiment in web UX analysis:

Web Without Words

When I look at these block schematics of high profile websites I’m horrified at how cluttered and complex they are.  It reinforces the manifesto I’ve previously put forth: customer experiences should not be this complex and intricate. Yet it’s a design approach which is sadly still very common.

Filed under: folly, presentation, style, trends, user interface , clutter, information architecture, schematics, web design, web without words

Making sense of 3D Flash interfaces

You must have seen the 3D web and software design trend, starting with Apple’s 3D-esque interface designs of recent years, and lately boosted by the impressive PaperVision 3D for Flash.  They make for beautiful, layered experiences and the sense of depth is intuitively pleasing. However, it doesn’t take much to turn a trend like this into a for-the-sake-of-it gimmick. 

The key to using 3D well is to think about the psychological value of 3D to a user, and not just turning things into 3D willy nilly.  People have portions of their brains that are dedicated to processing 3D visual scenes, and tapping into that is a powerful way to communicate things that have been tricky with 2D design:

Movement patterns provide a major cue in 3D – when objects move in unison (eg, rotating in a circle) there’s evidently a relationship between them.  The path in space taken by the objects give up clues to whether there’s a finite set and how fast you are moving through them. Apple’s ‘coverflow’  carousel is a prominent example of using movement in space but the approach could be applied in many different ways.  

Sense of place is communicated on multiple levels – 2D experience design relies on esoteric navigation constructs such as tabs and breadcrumbs to show people where they are in the overall structure of content.  Although many are now common across hundreds of websites, they take some learning and are often unintuitive.  In contrast, when you’re looking at a 3D scene with objects located in relative space the structure is immediately evident and familiar.  

Proximity = relevance – when you have many spatial constructs, the ones in close proximity are the ones that you assume are relevant to the matter at hand.  In a 2D space, this type of approach becomes a difficult task of managing clutter. Using size, location and perspective in 3D space is powerful for showing relevance, not just because of the extra dimensions but also because our brains are designed to process things that way.

Real world rules apply – unlike unique constructs built for UIs, the rules of 3D are the rules of the real world, so it’s easy to know whether you are breaking the rules based on what would make sense in the world: Objects shouldn’t appear out of nowhere, things should move predictably and with a sense of weight/mass, and so on.

Bonus: Lessons from 3D games have been learnt over years of experimentation and evolution that can now be leveraged in UI design. Video games have been building complex 3D interactive experiences for years and UI designers can actually claim some reference value from those hours of playing!

Filed under: 3D, creative delivery, information architecture, revolutions, style, trends, user interface, user-centred , 3D, design, flash, papervision3d, psychology

Xbox 360 New Interface Design

So apparently the Xbox 360 user interface is getting a total overhaul.  I’m impressed at how aggressive they are about innovating the product experience with this move.  It’s very daring, and certainly a first among game consoles, to completely change the UI from what people have become familiar with over the past years.  

We’ve entered a new era of in-life OS upgrades for online consumer products (thinking of the major game consoles, Tivo, the iPhone and iPods).    Although the benefits are evident with each valuable feature added, I’m perturbed by the overall experience:

• The products are a work in progress – I’m not entirely OK with buying at full price an unfinished product
• Updates are not always for the better – for example, the Tivo interface has been on a downward slide with each new addition 
• The upgrade processes are mostly laborious and time-consuming – can’t they update themselves without any work on my part?

Back to the Xbox’s new interface.  Although I’m pleased to see that they’re giving it a clean-up, I’m somewhat underwhelmed on first impression:

• Looks a lot like coverflow - positive points for looking good but negative points for being derivative
• Bright white and new avatars – seem inappropriate for the established gaming user base and reminiscent of the Wii
• Fit for purpose – coverflow seems overly simplistic given the inherent tasks of managing messages, game lists, etc.

We may be seeing phase 2 of the Master Plan here – Xbox was originally developed as a trojan horse for Microsoft to get into the living room. With this UI change and the growing video rental capabilities of the console it appears they are finally making good on that strategy.  However I am skeptical that this device, which has established itself as the choice of the hardcore gamer, and which sits firmly in the ‘Games’ aisle of major stores, will transition to a general entertainment device. If they pull that off it will be a stroke of genius.

Filed under: 3D, folly, presentation, revolutions, style, user interface, user-centred , announcement, engadget, in-life, strategy, trojan horse, user interface, xbox 360