The less visible the interface, the higher its value to the user.
People often mistake user interface for user experience. Although historically they’ve been quite directly related, these days their relationship has turned inverse. The best interface is no interface, as tech writers like to say. But I would like to take that one step further. In the age of information saturation and gadget deluge, the best user experience is no interface.
What does this really mean?
For user experience to be truly magical these days, apps have to do away with as much of the ‘face’ as possible and focus on the ‘inter’. Users these days do not want to waste their eyeball time exploring the ins and outs of an app. We are demanding, spoiled even. We want to get to our tasks and contents directly without worrying about how we will operate our devices. This is called intention-based computing. The minimalist revolution has answered this need to reduce visual clutter as well as cutting the amount of steps to operate the apps, but these days users have gone a step further. We want zero steps. We want our devices to know what we want before we even know it. We basically want the interface to read our minds.
Google Now has led the way in this direction. Google as a search box is a prime example of intention-based computing, helping us get to the information that we want in the shortest time possible. Google Now takes this to the next generation: predictive computing. It uses the aggregate information of our location data, search requests, online habits, email and calendar info to surface information at the exact moment when we need it. When I searched for Taoyuan Airport on Google Maps, Google Now showed me a card with the flight schedules from Shanghai to Taipei the moment I got out of the house. It also showed another card with the bus schedules from my house to Pudong Airport. I spent zero time and brainpower fiddling with the interface, but I still got the exact results I needed.
The less visible the interface, the higher its value in terms of time and brainpower saved.
Another service which impressed me is IFTTT, If This Then That. This is another technology which is extremely busy behind the scenes, but basically has no interface. I can just set some parameters at the start, such as automatically posting starred articles on Pocket to my Tumblr, or saving tagged Facebook pictures to Dropbox. These tasks used to take time and effort on my part, but they are now completely automated without me having to manage any interface. It does this much more consistently and thoroughly than I do, all without requiring me to think or spend any time on the app. A magical user interface has no need for an interface, because it can just read my intentions and do the tasks for me directly.
Apps like Google Now and IFTTT reflect technology at its best. Unlike current technological poster boys like Facebook and Twitter, these apps do not command any of our time and attention. They just get out of the way and deliver what the user needs. They empower users to be more productive and focus on things that matter to them. As the app marketplace gets even more crowded and demanding of our attention, it’s apps like Google Now and IFTTT which will own the future.
People often mistake user interface for user experience. Although historically they’ve been quite directly related, these days their relationship has turned inverse. The best interface is no interface, as tech writers like to say. But I would like to take that one step further. In the age of information saturation and gadget deluge, the best user experience is no interface.
What does this really mean?
For user experience to be truly magical these days, apps have to do away with as much of the ‘face’ as possible and focus on the ‘inter’. Users these days do not want to waste their eyeball time exploring the ins and outs of an app. We are demanding, spoiled even. We want to get to our tasks and contents directly without worrying about how we will operate our devices. This is called intention-based computing. The minimalist revolution has answered this need to reduce visual clutter as well as cutting the amount of steps to operate the apps, but these days users have gone a step further. We want zero steps. We want our devices to know what we want before we even know it. We basically want the interface to read our minds.
Google Now has led the way in this direction. Google as a search box is a prime example of intention-based computing, helping us get to the information that we want in the shortest time possible. Google Now takes this to the next generation: predictive computing. It uses the aggregate information of our location data, search requests, online habits, email and calendar info to surface information at the exact moment when we need it. When I searched for Taoyuan Airport on Google Maps, Google Now showed me a card with the flight schedules from Shanghai to Taipei the moment I got out of the house. It also showed another card with the bus schedules from my house to Pudong Airport. I spent zero time and brainpower fiddling with the interface, but I still got the exact results I needed.
The less visible the interface, the higher its value in terms of time and brainpower saved.
Another service which impressed me is IFTTT, If This Then That. This is another technology which is extremely busy behind the scenes, but basically has no interface. I can just set some parameters at the start, such as automatically posting starred articles on Pocket to my Tumblr, or saving tagged Facebook pictures to Dropbox. These tasks used to take time and effort on my part, but they are now completely automated without me having to manage any interface. It does this much more consistently and thoroughly than I do, all without requiring me to think or spend any time on the app. A magical user interface has no need for an interface, because it can just read my intentions and do the tasks for me directly.
Apps like Google Now and IFTTT reflect technology at its best. Unlike current technological poster boys like Facebook and Twitter, these apps do not command any of our time and attention. They just get out of the way and deliver what the user needs. They empower users to be more productive and focus on things that matter to them. As the app marketplace gets even more crowded and demanding of our attention, it’s apps like Google Now and IFTTT which will own the future.
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