Now what about user interface design? Every software application I own has a bespoke interface. No doubt this has a lot to do with differentiating oneself in tough markets, and I do like variety and novelty, but come on. These apps are needlessly different. Mozilla mail is nothing like The Bat!, which is nothing like Outlook. Yet they are essentially identical tools in the same way cars are essentially identical tools. The difference between car-makers and software-makers is that if software-makers made cars, they’d think they were doing a bang-up job by putting the brake above your head. Strangely, car-makers have found saner ways to compete with each other and enthrall customers.
Share
More from LorcanDempsey.net
Calgary Central Library: combining intimacy and civic statement
The Calgary central library was on first impression the finest public building I have been in for years.
3 min read
The decentered library network presence
The library does not have a singular network presence. There may be a main website, but the library also syndicates its presence to other venues (e.g. RSS), has unbundled to social sites (e.g. Facebook), and sources activity in the cloud (e.g. LibGuides).
5 min read
Full library discovery
The collection remains central to the library experience. However, as library services evolve beyond the collection so it makes sense for discovery services to represent more of what the library does and can provide - to move from 'full collection discovery' to 'full library discovery.'
4 min read
