"Sometime this year when AIR becomes truly cross platform (Mac, Windows, and Linux) it's going to open up a whole new world to designers: Linux... But there's a problem, Linux applications are damn ugly. They have this kind of semi Windows 95 feel to them that gives some geek cred but isn't at all pleasing to the eye. Take a look at the Rhythmbox Music Player (the design of the site is a perfect representation) that is default player for MP3s. That's developer art at its finest."

Thank god someone agrees with me publicly. Of course, he got attacked for saying it though - what else did you expect?

"With computers as common a household appliance as televisions now, who might be using your web-application has expanded beyond the realm of just the power user. Complicated menu systems, alert dialog messages that lock you out of the browser and flashy but confusing layouts aren’t necessarily going to help you make conversions. The Web user demographic has changed and to make your web application appeal to the masses your user interface needs to teach and to guide."

Nice article on the role of web user interfaces - some food for thought.

"Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been driving the design of a cross platform shape and control set for Firefox 3... Our goals are to design an interface that is simple, modern, and visually lighter than previous versions of Firefox. A lot of careful thought went into determining which controls we could integrate or remove. We also focused a lot on how we could leverage visual design (namely grouping and patterns) to form a user interface that is both simpler and easier to use."

Very interesting, not only for Firefox, but also the design/branding process they went through and reasons behind it.

Wow, compiz has come a long way. This stuff is awesome - yes, that 'paper airplane' in the pic is actually a window flying back into position. Linux definitely has a massive lead on any other OS in this area.

The problem though is that they're not following through with the actual window UI. It's still dog ugly, and stuck in the past. Look at how long the list of options is in the config app in the video also. Sigh. This is like an Audi R8 with a 1.5L engine :(

"This morning at TechEd Australia 2007, I attended the “Interface Design Patterns” session by Darryl Chantry, an architect on the Architecture Strategy Team at Microsoft (Australia). A session mostly directed to developed on how they should start thinking about designing application for the user, instead of themselves."

Interesting recount. It's nice to see the focus Microsoft is putting on UX, but not close enough to Apple yet. Now, when is Linux gonna join the revolution?

Regarding Google's 'I'm feeling lucky' button -
"... the reason the "I feel lucky" button stays is not its click through rates, but the message it sends about google's corporate culture. "
"They can't remove that button now, it's part of their branding, part of their identity... The few extra bytes of page size and the small extra cognitive load is more than made up for the positive feelings it engenders in users."

The power of a button eh? It doesn't really bother me, as I never visit google's homepage anymore, thanks to browser shortcuts.

"Microsoft is run by geeks. You know the type. They don’t understand why you need to design in animations, great sounds, and a flow from one experience to the next. They, at heart, think that a simple text list is just as good as something that has nice animations, fonts, graphics, etc. Heck, most of the developers who work at Microsoft live in text editors all day long. Even if they do get it, the committees kill these features when the project runs behind schedule because they take a ton of coding time, a ton of testing time, and don’t provide any “hard” value to the product."

So true, but they're changing slowly, but not fast enough to head off Apple, or even compete sometimes.

Great post about human user interfaces.

1. It’s not your fault.
2. Simple things should stay simple.
3. Fewer choices mean fewer worries.
4. Your data is sacred.
5. Your train of thought is sacred.
6. Good interfaces create good habits.
7. Modes cause misery.
8. It’s easy to learn.