User Experience
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Can Microsoft make Windows 8 the mobile OS? | Microsoft
Microsoft Windows president Stephen Sinofsky introduces a test version of a touch-enabled Windows 8 at Microsoft's Build conference last September. (Credit: Microsoft ) It may seem odd that Microsoft executives are traveling all the way to Barcelona, Spain, to debut the beta version of the upcoming Windows 8 operating system at a mobile device show. But Microsoft, which has launched tablets and mobile phones long before rivals only to see others dominate those businesses, is hoping that the next version of its desktop operating system will reverse years of stumbling. "It's an acknowledgement that mobile is what Microsoft needs to address," said Rick Sherlund, an analyst with Nomura Securities. Tomorrow, the software giant will debut the Windows 8 beta , something the company is calling the Consumer Preview, at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On , a column about consumer technology. The iPad , launched in 2010, kicked off the post-PC era. The combination of a multitouch display and keyboard-less design enabled mobile computing in a way not done before. On the other hand, maybe the IBM Simon, launched in 1992, kicked off the post-PC era.
Switched On: Think form factors, not PCs
With Windows 8 coming later this year, Ultrabook makers are reportedly scratching their heads over how to integrate touchscreens with thin-and-light laptops. Existing Ultrabook designs are inadequate, DigiTimes reports , because when you tap the touchscreen, you might end up pushing the top panel downward. Strengthening the hinge is an option, but then the entire laptop could topple back if you push too hard.
With Windows 8 Hybrid Laptops, it's all about the Trackpad
Guidelines are considered to be the best resource that designers and developer can use to ensure that the applications and web sites they produce are usable. Operating systems, devices, and development environments are very specific in nature. Because of this, their manufacturers have devised their own set of usability, user experience and user interface guidelines. This week I would like to share with you the official links to these guidelines.
Official Usability, UX & UI Guidelines From Companies
stephen.turbek.com Stephen Turbek 4 January 2012 Coffee and Design have a long history together -It's unclear if anyone could focus on kerning in the wee hours without it. But what about the design of coffee itself?
stephen turbek: Usability, User Experience, and Coffee: When Bad Usability is Good User Experience
CES 2012: Focus on the User Experience CEA research director says gadgets at this year's Consumer Electronics Show will boast simpler, better user interfaces and emphasize device personalization LAS VEGAS— In a presentation on the eve of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Shawn DuBravac, research director for show producers the Consumer Electronics Association declared that the industry was entering the second decade of the digital transition. “We spent the last decade playing out the digital transition, which was a broad shift from analog technologies such as VCRs to PVRs, or analogue TV to digital TV. The second phase will see the market start to leverage all these digital devices.
CES 2012: Focus on the User Experience
Intel's vision for Ultrabooks: combo of touchscreens, Kinect, and Siri
Intel outlined a future for Ultrabooks ranging over a number of new features at a Consumer Electronics Show press event Monday. Concept devices included touchscreen Ultrabooks, tablet-style hybrids, voice command and gesture integration, and NFC integration to fill in credit card details to an online form by touching your card to a computer's touchpad. Mooly Eden, an Intel VP, indicated that the company's dedication to the Ultrabook concept remains strong, despite lukewarm receptions to and sales of the initial models , such as the Asus Zenbook and Toshiba Portege Z835 . Aside from pumping up current models and denigrating overconsumption of media ("consumption is for cows, not people," he declared at one point), Eden demonstrated a number of concept devices that will be integrated into future models.
CES 2012 Intel's research department has overruled Steve Jobs: touchscreens have been added to the next generation of Chipzilla's Ultrabook spec. "Touch skipped the notebook, skipped the Ultrabook. It was dedicated to phones, it was dedicated to tablets," Mooly Eden, general manager of Intel's PC Client Group told his audience on Monday morning at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas. "It's not going to skip the Ultrabook any more." In October 2010, when introducing Mac OS X Lion, Jobs said that Apple's research department had determined that touchscreens weren't appropriate for vertical displays such as are found on PCs and notebooks.
Intel ignores Steve Jobs, adds touchscreen to Ultrabook
Customer journey mapping could hold the key to analysing and improving the customer experience. Only recently a report from the Cabinet Office recommended CJM for authorities to provide a more efficient and cost-effective service. Arne van Oosterom outlines how it can help organisations - and lists the 10 key ingredents to a customer journey map.
Customer journey mapping: Mapping out customer experience excellence
Someday, we will all control computers with our brain waves. You will think of a command, such as turning on the headlights in your car or closing a dialog box, and a computer will react instantly. Until then, there is an incredibly precise way to control computer interfaces. Using nothing more than your own hands and fingers, gesture control systems seek to remove the one impediment to more immediate, ubiquitous computing: the stylus, keyboard, and mouse. You wave your hand, and the computer starts playing a DVD. Or, you pick up a virtual object, turn it around, and throw it across the room.
Beyond Kinect: 5 next-gen gesture systems
Deep in the skunk works of its Research and Labs divisions, secreted around the Seattle area, Microsoft is working on totally reinventing the way people interact with their computers. Very little is out in the open or in more than a prototype form, but the work is unquestionably being done. Last week it transpired that Microsoft is working on building Kinect into the bezels of laptops , and after that, presumably, tablets and eventually mobile phones. But it’s not just about building out the install base for Dance Central 3.
Lip Reading, 3D Desktops, And NUI: Microsoft Plans To Reinvent User Interaction
If you've used the mobile social network Path recently, it's likely that you enjoyed the experience. Path has a sophisticated design, yet it's easy to use. It sports an attractive red color scheme and the navigation is smooth as silk. It's a social app and finding friends is easy thanks to Path's suggestions and its connection to Facebook.
5 Signs of a Great User Experience
Donald Arthur Norman (born December 25, 1935, commonly referred to as Don Norman in his professional activity) is an academic in the field of cognitive science , design and usability engineering and a co-founder and consultant with the Nielsen Norman Group .