The Quest for a Simpler Computer Interface

Strategic Insights -

In the years since Apple's Macintosh and Microsoft's Windows promised intuitive and easy-to-use computers, the industry has yet to deliver on that promise. While companies like Microsoft are pushing forward with new ideas, such as the Social Interface, others argue that the graphical user interface, developed in the 1970s, has outlived its usefulness. The quest for a simpler computer interface continues, with experts calling for entirely new approaches and metaphors.

Key Takeaways:

  • Microsoft has unveiled its Social Interface, a new approach to user-interface design that aims to make working with a computer feel like working with a person.
  • The Social Interface is based on the idea that people would prefer to interact with computers in a social, rather than abstract, way through easy commands and pull-down menus.
  • Microsoft's first implementation of the Social Interface is a software program called Bob, which will be available for about $US100 in March.
  • Bob uses animated characters that act as a central resource for the user, hiding the more difficult parts of the Windows user interface.
  • Apple's user-interface design lead, Donald Norman, disagrees with the approach, calling it patronizing and arguing that a more straightforward approach is needed.
  • Norman prefers a model of intelligent assistance, where the system offers help only when needed and can adapt to the user's needs.
  • Apple's future operating system, Copland, will include a feature called "active interface," which aims to have the computer do the work for the user without needing to be asked.
  • Experts, including Paul Saffo from the Institute for the Future, argue that the graphical user interface has reached its limits and that a new approach is needed.

Statistics:

  • Microsoft's Social Interface is based on research conducted by two Stanford University professors and a legion of cognitive scientists, who spoke to hundreds of strangers to understand how people would prefer to work with a computer.
  • Bob will be available for purchase in March for around $US100.
  • The graphical user interface was developed in the 1970s and has been used in the PC industry since the 1990s.
  • Today's computers often require 30 million bytes of memory and can run multiple procedures simultaneously, making graphical user interfaces inadequate for complex tasks.
  • Apple's Copland operating system will be released in mid-1996.

Sources:

  • "Microsoft Tries to Make Computers User-Friendly" by Laurie Flynn, reported for The New York Times.
  • The Institute for the Future, in Menlo Park, California.
  • Apple Computer's user-interface design lead, Donald Norman.
  • Paul Saffo, research fellow at the Institute for the Future.