[Sigia-l] Point of View: New metaphors for user interfaces

[Alexander Johannesen]

On 12/20/05, Listera <listera at rcn.com> wrote:
> "...why bother with quaint artifacts like card catalogs, A - Z indexes,
> glossaries, and tables of contents? Two reasons: familiarity and utility."
>
> Card catalogs are pretty quaint, unfamiliar artifacts to a sizeable portion
> of the new generation. Their utility, given the plethora of other tools
> electronically available, is also questionable.
>
> Alex is still hopeful that the flame is still burning at the library, others
> can't see through the fogged windows. :-)

The fogged windows are from all the exciting and steamy action inside.

Incidentally, I don't think the catalog card is unfamiliar to the new
generation; they've seen it used in their applications in both visual
presentation and in abstracted purpose, even if they haven't picked up
a real version of it. It's quite interesting to watch applications use
good ol' catalog cards as metaphors for the user interface, and
similar stuff where the interface mimics those very familiar relics.
The catalog card was designed really well, and a lot of modern
interfaces would do well to look to their off-line real-world
grandparents for clues.

Some times sticking to an old form isn't a bad thing at all. And since
we're talking about libraries, in the end, after we've gone through
all the fancy search engines and AJAX interfaces and used the funky
technology, we've got ourself a bounded book made from dead trees we
enjoy in the shade of a living one.

All in all, often people will say that the biggest reason they don't
like eBooks is that the eBook doesn't feel like paper or have the feel
of a book. They say the MP3 players don't feel like a walkman, or that
the music doesn't sound like a tube-based, turn-table LP record. Or
perhaps that a modern Toyota MR2 doesn't feel anywhere near a '66
Corvette. I don't know, but technology and design can be a bit blind;
clunky designs can be the very thing that makes people feel
affectionate and happy about their stuff. Don't mess with their stuff.


Alex
--
"Ultimately, all things are known because you want to believe you know."
                                                         - Frank Herbert
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