Although I think the latest Google Reader update provides a great user experience, I’m missing the search bar somewhere in the new interface.
I’d like to filter and search for keywords within my news feed items as I can do it with my messages in Gmail.
Btw, isn’t it strange that Google, of all internet-companies, removed the search bar of one of its applications?
Hey, this new flip-through-your-music-collection feature is simply A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!
It almost feels like going through good old large-sized vinyls. The best point is that suddenly it’s possible again to recognize music by its cover art. Great!
I never would’ve thought that cover art can be an such an important part of mp3s. Without cover art this new visual music browsing method would be pretty useless…
Jeff Schiller found out that driving directions are drawn using SVG in Windows Live Local. Interesting and great to see but it leads me to one question: what happened to Microsoft’s VML? Are they dropping (or not any longer forcing) their own technology in favor of an open standard?
Btw, I never had a closer look at Windows Live Local (they should probably flag their product announcements with “works now outside of IE too!”, I’m not even trying to access their services without IE anymore because of too bad experiences in the past) and I must admit that I’m pretty surprised. From a cartographic point of view the maps are looking very nice. In my opinion the map design is much better than in the rest of those search engine mapping services. Aren’t they all using the same or similar sources such as Digital Globe, NAVTEQ, TeleAtlas etc.?
Microsoft offers a lot features within Live Local:
Features are good, basically. Too many features are bad. I’m afraid if too many marketing champions get involved in the development of Windows Live Local they will kill the service by a feature overkill. The options I have on the site are already quite versatile. They reach from searching an address, marking and sharing places to visualize traffic information.
I still prefer the “keep it simple” design principle. The worst question a user can ask or think about while accessing your site is: “What can I do here?”. The very basic service or aim of your site must be clear from the beginning. If it’s hidden inside a forest of features then you are having a problem.
Flickr just got an update on its user interface. There is a new navigation bar, organizr (no Flash anymore!) and a new structure of your photo and group sites. My first impression is that you now get easier and faster to most features, especially the new organizr seems to be a HUGE improvement! Great work!
The latest Google Maps API update (to version 2.41) allows to display an overview map to the main Google Map by using the GOverviewMapControl. Read the Google Maps API Blog post or head directly over to the Google-Groups discussion for more information on that update.
Reading the word “overview map” I rembered a discussion we had lately about that issue. Almost automatically, without having a second thought, we put an overview map onto our webmapping application where it is now for more than a year now. There is a big chance that you’ll find in 80% of all webmapping tools those tiny overview maps. I simply was wondering if those stamp-sized pictures mean such an indispensable benefit to users. Background of the entire discussion was to find ways to optimize the user interface, to free some more space on the screen for additional information or enlarging the main map.
An overview map does make sense when a large scale map is presented as entrance point, to give an idea where the viewed area is located. Starting with a small scale map, as we do in our application, and showing the whole explorable area, an overview map isn’t an essential element at this point.
As well I consider overview maps as usefull if the time span between user interaction and map delivery is getting to long (due to server perfomances, bandwith bottlenecks, etc.), in particular while zooming and panning. Disorientation of the user could be the result. In times of AJAX and vector graphic driven user interfaces it shouldn’t be a problem to keep that time span short in order to develop a snappy application and in the end achieve a great user experience. Almost every new mapping product of 2005 showed excellent navigational-usablity. Enhancing the overview map like Yahoo! did, interaction on the overview map pans the main map simultaneously, makes navigation through a large area extremely convenient. Once the small overview map is not any longer needed and would only cover parts the main map you can close it. Since screen dimensions are limited and the focus should be put on the map, I would consider the possibility to hide unneeded elements as an essential feature.
In terms of zoom and pan work-flow I always appreciated back and forth buttons. If I get lost I follow my trace back until I know where I am. Just like hitting ctrl-z, the most used shortcut ever on my keyboard.
Recently I came across the mapping tool called Social Explorer (via Cartography). It’s based on Flash technology and offers exploration of U.S. census data.
Since more than a year now we are working on a similar application for Austria. It’ll let users explore Austrian and European census data along with other information relevant to spatial development. Within the last year I could observe the focus of development shifting from technology driven discussions (e.g. offering advanced GIS functionality) to cartographic *correct* geodata and finally emphasising on user-needs. After the event people often have the wonderful gift of hindsight, so now I know that we should have put more weight on initial user-requirements discussions. Technology is a fascinating thing and we all were caught by visions of tools we would like to integrate.
A noticeable aspect of the Social Explorer is its simplicity. The first screen of our application contains more or less the same elements. We start with pre-defined maps, the user can switch between various topics and load different maps, we have of course zooming & panning, something similiar to that slide-show tool and the possibility to create reports containing tables and diagrams. But somehow the Social Explorer interface appears more clearly and easier. At a glance you know what you can do and what this tool has to offer, in our application it’s still more trial and error. A colleague hit the nail on the head by mentioning “It’s the American approach, keep it simple. We got the European approach, to make it more complicated than it actually is.”.
During the next months we’ll concentrate more on interface design, clean it up while keeping the same functionality to achieve a higher deegree of usability. In the end, usabality (beside marketing) is crucial for a popular application.
If you’re interested in interface design and mapping/cartographic applications you should definitely have a look at the Atlas of Switzerland, an amazing cartographic product.
Every time thinking about usability, interface design, etc. I recall an interview about Apple’s one button mouse, which they used to produce until last year. Asked why they still put only one button on their mice while other PC-mice offer I don’t know how many buttons and wheels the Apple employee answered: “Considering that Apple users have only one button available, Apple developers are forced to keep the interface of their applications simple in order that users can operate them with only one button.”. A way to guarantee Apple’s hallmark, the ergonomically designed user interface.
Wanna spend some time with a stupid red button? Then go here.