Locus OS

Locus OS is a user interface concept for portable devices. It changes aspects of its UI based on the user’s location.

The idea of organizing files into projects seems interesting. The movie doesn’t show much of how this works - it seems users can either interact with their files in a spatial way, or using a timeline, but the timeline is never shown. Files do not seem to be associated with specific applications.

The system seems a bit disjointed, switching from a rich graphical user interface to a kind of text-based menu structure at one point. But it certainly contains some neat ideas.

Note that this is not actually a Microsoft project, despite of the logo in the movie.

Found via Sean Ren.

If you require a short url to link to this article, please use http://ignco.de/245

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.