Design Detail: Buttons that communicate intention
I came across this example of an iPhone application that uses some great, simple design with its interface. Run Keeper is an app that tracks your runs (or bikes, or hikes, or walks, or…). When you first start out you get this really nice big green button. When you are done you get and equally nice red button. They could have gone with a more standard blue shade on the button, but it wouldn’t say anything about what that particular piece of interface did. A nice, thoughtful touch.
Why the iPhone isn’t my next computer… yet.
There’s been some interesting conversation recently about how some people are beginning to use their iPhones (or any mobile handset, for that matter) as more of a computer than a phone. After all, you can access just about any type of media on your mobile now. You can communicate in most all the same ways as you do on a desktop–if not more. And with the added enhancements like video cameras and GPS, your phone is becoming more of a tool for getting things done than ever before.
These enhancements, as well as the continual refinement of the OS, make the iPhone a great tool for work. But not all types. Work that is dependent on consumption rather than production is great for mobile devices. But the form factor, lack of sufficiently focused tools and technical limitations like processing power and battery life all make it tough to produce much in an optimized way.
When you are producing work (output) you need quiet space in the interface where you and your tools can focus. You need modal experiences where changing your area of focus is holistic. You need the interface to meld with the way you best use it. Currently the iPhone struggles with some of these needs. The idea of a “workspace” on a phone is a bit tough to buy considering we are all humans and have these big clumsy appendages called fingers. But I don’t think this gets mobile devices off the hook completely.
As an experiment I wrotte this post on my iPhone using Writeroom for the iPhone and it’s painful, but possible. While mobile technology is poised to lead the next big evolution in human-computer interaction, it’s current focus on output over input is something that must begin to change before we can all finally be rid of our large, clunky machines and their wires.
Seattle Architects Directory – by Design Commission
We created a hand-picked list of the top residential architects in Seattle. This directory was born out of the idea that there was no real way to browse some of the great architecture happening here in the northwest and is meant to provide clients, architects, and people in the construction industry a visual resource for the top firms.