Invisible UI and other liesSimplicity considered harmful
MARCIN BOBER
UX POLANDApril 14, 2016
@MARCINBOBER
The opinions expressed in this presentation representmy own and not those of my employer.
We are not designing for idiots.
HYBRID OPERATING ROOM
GOOGLE DATA CENTER
What is invisible design?
“ You have two goblets before you. One is of solid gold (…) the other is of
crystal-clear glass, thin as a bubble, and as transparent. Pour and drink;
and according to your choice of goblet, I shall know whether or not you
are a connoisseur of wine. For if you have no feelings about wine one
way or the other, you will want the sensation of drinking the stuff out of
a vessel that may have cost thousands of pounds; but if you are a
member of that vanishing tribe, the amateurs of fine vintages, you will
choose the crystal, because everything about it is calculated to reveal
rather than hide the beautiful thing which it was meant to contain.”
–The Crystal Goblet, or Printing Should Be Invisible by Beatrice Warde
–The Crystal Goblet, or Printing Should Be Invisible by Beatrice Warde
“The book typographer has the job of erecting a window between the reader inside the room and that landscape
which is the author's words.
He may put up a stained-glass window of marvellous beauty, but a failure as a window. Or he may work in what I call
transparent or invisible typography. ”
Helvetica
Data-ink ratio
– Edward Tufte, 1983
“Data-ink is the non-erasable core of a graphic, thenon-redundant ink arranged in response to
variation in the numbers represented.”
Study of a box plot
Invisible computer
–Don Norman, 1998
“The technology should be invisible, hidden from sight.”
–Golden Krishna, 2012
“The best UI is noUI”
Eliminate interfaces toembrace natural processes
–Golden Krishna
“Avoiding a digital interface means you don’t waste time learning, troubleshooting, and using a screen you
don’t need to be using anyway.
That’s good design thinking.”
What is wrong with invisible design?
Nothing
but…
Hiding complexity can be detrimental to user experience.
–Arthur C. Clarke
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
What if the magic fails?
–Dieter Rams
“Good design makes a product understandable.”
Excessive automation hinders mastery
Legal and moral issues
UI = culture
–Steve B. Johnson, Interface Culture
“The interface came into the world under the cloak of efficiency, and it is now emerging—chrysalis-style—as a genuine art form.”
The best architecture is no architecture?
No UI = no fun
Why are we here?
?
–Doug Engelbart
“Boosting mankind’s capability for coping with complex, urgent problems.”
MEMEX, 1945
Do not hide complexity, help to embrace it.
Thank you!
Invisible UI and other liesSimplicity Considered Harmful
MARCIN BOBER
UX POLANDApril 14, 2016
@MARCINBOBER
