The problem with computers is that you have to use them through an interface. You, as a user, are stuck on one edge of the system, the user interface (UI). The problem is that until somebody invents a working neural shunt or interconnect like the ones seen in the Wachowski brothers’ film The Matrix, we have to make do with some sort of UI for our computers and gadgets.

There have been some great looking user interfaces invented purely for entertainment on the TV and movie screen. From the slick research screens used in CSI, to the somewhat creepy gloved hand interfaces in Minority Report (which are somewhat reminiscent of modern multi-touch UIs), but it strikes me that all of these would have to be learned just the same.

Recently it has been getting more and more obvious to me that we are stretching current UIs to breaking point. Most folks put up with them at best, some learn them quite well but almost everybody has at some point been frustrated or upset by a computer interface.

Crying and spilt milk

What to do about it? Well there are plenty of people who are frustrated by the status quo. Let me guide you through the grievances I have with current UIs, using the words of greater writers than I.

I recently read this:

No set of labels or algorithms solves anything once and for all; any working system for showing data to the user is a bag of optimizations and tradeoffs that are a lot worse than some Platonic ideal, but a lot better than nothing.

The article (Thanks due to Mr Gruber for the link) is really about the recent outrage at Amazon’s metadata and indexing system, which was followed by many using the hashtag #amazonfail. However, the section that really stood out to me was the above simple truth about indexing and searching systems I talked about in my first post.