Curious Rituals
Beautifully done. A must read for folks interested in usability and interface design.
Beautiful - as much fun with a lamp as you’re ever going to have (via Designer Creates Real-Life ‘Pixar Lamp’ That Won’t Let You Switch It Off - DesignTAXI.com)
Turn any surface into an iPhone keyboard! This keyboard app works by picking up minute vibrations on any surface. No need for projections of specialist ‘surface’ technology. Amazing.
(Source: vimeo.com)
Little Boxes ECAL/Joelle Aeschlimann (by ECAL)
Love this.
Layar Creator - Welcome to Interactive Print (by layarmobile)
“The key to learning to code is learning to think like a computer—which is a hard thing to do. “It requires structured thinking, ability to abstract details away, and there’s little margin for error—one little typo and your program might do something entirely different from what you wanted,” says game developer Rui Viana. “The real world just doesn’t work like that, so it’s hard to get your head around it.” Which is precisely why Viana created Cargo-Bot, a simple iPad app that turns “thinking like a computer” into a genuinely addictive puzzle game. It’s like
Angry Birds crossed with Codecademy, and it’s total genius.”
Mobile interfaces Pinterest board
I’ve started a Pinterest board featuring mobile interfaces that catch my eye. It’s a work in progress and I’ll be adding to it as I go along.
It’s made up of hardware and software interfaces that break moulds or just do simple things really well. The example below is a screenshot of Path. (Ex-)Privacy issues aside, Path is a lovely app to interact with, visual and playful and introduces nice new models of interaction.
Pay me a visit sometime.
Interface Origami
Here’s an interesting way of prototyping digital interfaces.
Having a physical prototype [has the] benefit of putting something in your hands you can play with and evaluate. While a final design may end up as pixels, there’s a lot to explore beyond that.
“Urbanflow would add a layer of personalized interactivity to common public signage, so that tourists could find a specific route on a local map, seek out the closest subway station, or simply find a cool place to hang out for a few hours.
It would do this by leveraging what Urbanscale calls the “ambient data” generated by the interaction of people and infrastructure, “such as energy consumption, traffic density, air quality and municipal works.” The idea is that you can see what’s going on, but also communicate back to the city with your own updates.”
Crafting experience
Here’s a lovely write up of the recent V&A exhibition ‘Power of Making’ that focusses on digital design as a craft:
MEX – the strategy forum for mobile user experience – Crafting experience
“Where these physical craftspeople rely on familiarity with grains, knots, fractures and faults, their digital equals must become intimate with the varied interactions, connectivity and behaviours which define virtual experience. By understanding the technical composition of these elements, by embracing a willingness to subvert them and by constantly refining the experience, the resulting designer is more capable of the alchemy of memorable digital craft.”
Nokia Mobile flexible user interface. Navigate your device by flexing it. Can see it working well for some apps, maybe not everything though.
