March 17, 2009

More Temporal User Interfaces: Lifestreams

stilist recently pointed me towards Eric Freeman and David Gelernter’s Lifestreams Project, a concept for a temporal replacement for the desktop metaphor we use today.

Concept for a temporal file management system

Some very interesting ideas. Further reading:

Wired.com: According to David Gelernter, the desktop metaphor is obsolete. He wants to move beyond space - to time

Sun.com: A Conversation with David Gelernter

Edge.com: THE SECOND COMING - A MANIFESTO (By David Gelernter)

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designed_for_use_small

If you liked this, you'll love my book. It's called Designed for Use: Create Usable Interfaces for Applications and the Web. In it, I cover the whole design process, from user research and sketching to usability tests and A/B testing. But I don't just explain techniques, I also talk about concepts like discoverability, when and how to use animations, what we can learn from video games, and much more.

You can find out more about it (and order it directly, printed or as a DRM-free ebook) on the Pragmatic Programmers website.