Creative minds in technology should focus on solving problems. Not just make interfaces.
As Donald Norman said in 1990, “The real problem with the interface is that it is an interface. Interfaces get in the way. I don’t want to focus my energies on an interface. I want to focus on the job…I don’t want to think of myself as using a computer, I want to think of myself as doing my job.”
It’s time for us to move beyond screen-based thinking. Because when we think in screens, we design based upon a model that is inherently unnatural, inhumane, and has diminishing returns. It requires a great deal of talent, money and time to make these systems somewhat usable, and after all that effort, the software can sadly, only truly improve with a major overhaul.
There is a better path: No UI. A design methodology that aims to produce a radically simple technological future without digital interfaces. Following three simple principles, we can design smarter, more useful systems that make our lives better.
The author’s three principle are:
• Principle 1: Eliminate interfaces to embrace natural processes.
• Principle 2: Leverage computers instead of catering to them.
• Principle 3: Create a system that adapts for people.
He elaborates on each principle, using many examples.
I think he may be onto something. The clumsiness of existing NFC from the end-users’ point of view (14 steps to buy a sandwich!) may explain why Apple is unlikely to deploy a solution just yet. In contrast, Google’s über-geek roots, and its apparent antipathy to the everyday person, explains its gung-ho approach to NFC.