14 ms·
It's neat, but will never happen. The prototype misses the subtle intersection of all the constraints necessary for good design on the iPad. At a high level, he
by gfodor 15y ago
It's neat, but will never happen. The prototype misses the subtle intersection of all the constraints necessary for good design on the iPad. At a high level, here are a few that you want to optimize for:
- Efficiency: how fast can the user perform the task at hand?
- Intuitivity: how likely is it the user will understand how to use it without direct instruction? (based upon trial and error, previous experience, etc.)
- Consistency: how much is it like other patterns in the same UI/environment?
- Metaphor: how much does it 'feel' like other real-world objects and leverages how the user understands them already?
These are of course a sample of high level overlapping themes. This particular prototype is obviously optimizing for efficiency. It does so very well, but at a very, very deep cost to the others. It is an undiscoverable interface. It utterly destroys the direct manipulation illusion of the iPad. It causes the virtual keys to no longer be metaphorical buttons since you can drag across them for an effect. It is inconsistent with other use of gestures, particularly since you are controlling a cursor remotely much like you would with a mouse (likely a fire-able proposition at Apple!)
The thing that makes Apple's work so amazing is the balance they manage to strike between these things and so consistently get it right. For a power user, give me vim, Maya, Photoshop, and other tools that optimize for efficiency (much like this prototype does.) But when designing things that are meant to be universally available, a more subdued and balanced approach across these types of constraints is necessary.
- weaksauce 15y agoThe holding the plus button in safari to reopen closed tabs was not intuitive at all and there was no subtle wiggle or other in iPad thing to show that it was even there. Why not have this be a setting that you can turn on? Or have the two ways to edit text on at the same time? There are two ways to input text right now with the voice recognition and the keyboard so why not two ways to select text?
- wmeredith 15y agoThis is just one example of a host of undiscoverable features lurking in many of Apple's touch interfaces. (Triple home button taps, anyone?) I could see them implementing this, and I hope they do.
- conradev 15y agoTriple home button taps are not meant to be used by everyday users, but visually impaired users who come to use that as they learn to use their devices.
- gfodor 15y agoDiscoverability is just one of several problems I mentioned above. Remote cursor manipulation, etc, are all against the grain. Taken together they lead me to think this is not in line with the type of thing Apple would do.
- minikomi 15y agoI agree but I think it makes more sense as an "Advanced" option which can be turned on and off.
- product50 15y agoIt is important to give suggestions rather than refuting existing proposals. I think we all will agree that Apple's current iPad keyboard design is broken. So, what do you suggest? It is easy to criticize or find fault with suggestions that others are giving. What is tough though, and that adds real value to any conversation, is what do you suggest and your reasons for it.
- gfodor 15y agoI don't agree that it's broken. The UI they have fits nicely within the constraints I mentioned. When I want to type quickly, I have a bluetooth keyboard. The issue I have with the iPad keyboard is the way autosuggest works, not sure if that's related, but that's for another post.
- DavidAbrams 15y agoA great many of Apple UIs fail those tests. The main problem with this one is discoverability, but since most gestures are essentially undiscoverable, that hardly impugns it. I think this is an excellent idea.
- frankus 15y agoI don't think the OP is proposing to phase out the current method of navigating and selecting text, but rather adding an additional shortcut for people who do a lot of text editing. So the question you have to ask is "will this get in the way of beginners and/or casual users?". Precisely because it's so unobtrusive and non-discoverable, I think the answer is "no". Like the multitasking gestures on the iPad (which will never entirely replace the home button), this would be a complement to the intuitive, consistent and metaphorical (but inefficient) method of selecting text currently. In fact precisely positioning a cursor is very nearly unworkable as a direct-manipulation task, since the target is so much smaller than a fingertip.
- armandososa 15y agoI think the OP makes this point, in a very subtle way, by closing the app using the four finger pinch at the end, which is a not discoverable, not obvious, advanced feature which, I'm sure, not a lot of people use.
- gaelian 15y agoI'd love to know if you're correct on this. Because if you are, then the OP has a flair for subtle, yet relevant visual cues that borders on the precient.
- ajross 15y agoI actually agree with you on most of those points. Yet it's worth pointing out that a plain old $10 keyboard beats the iPad on every one of those. And it's not even close. Yet people insist on putting lipstick on this pig, trying to believe that text editing on a tablet doesn't suck. They're great media consumption devices. Don't try to use them in contexts where they work poorly, nor fool yourself into thinking they can be "fixed".
- sbuk 15y agoThey're great media consumption devices. Sorry, but this is a lazy and trite assertion. They are a extremely useful tools for visual designers and musicians for a start.
- skrebbel 15y agoMusicians?? How?
- TillE 15y agoI've seen professionals use an iPad as a drum sequencer. Not sure which app, but there you go. The audio output is fine, and a touch interface is definitely suitable for certain music applications, especially live performance.
- dspig 15y agoThere are several synthesizer apps where you trigger notes and control various parameters using multi-touch on a 2D surface. More expressive than a normal keyboard, more likely to come up with something new and interesting, and cheaper than esoteric MIDI hardware controllers that allow similar things.
- WickyNilliams 15y agoThere are a number of apps available for iOS for music creation, ranging in complexity from simple synths and virtual drum kits, to quite accomplished sequencers/DAWs (Apple's own garageband is a perfect example). If i remember rightly Damon Alban created the newest Gorillaz album entirely on the ipad [1] Note: I don't own an ipad, i just lust after all the cool music apps. I wish people would get started creating equivalent apps for android tabs (though i understand there were historical issues with the audio API in android, which i believe were rectified as of ICS) [1] http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/53816 http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/53816
- ax 15y agoGood points, though I don't agree that Metaphore is an important criteria. It's intuition that's important, and metaphore is just one way to aid intuition. Metro design guidelines even advise against using metaphore in favor of being authentically digital.
- ecaradec 15y agoApple is doing a lot of undiscoverable things like that : - focus to remove an app (people learn that from others ) - splitted keyboard left & right has invisible virtual keys - double tab the button for process - kill process by focusing on a process ( very useful when an app has crased, yet undiscoverable ) - double tab then slide left for volume - screenshot with power + button - take a photo with the volume button Hidden features are very Apple-esque
- greendestiny 15y agoNot to mention a long touch to start a zoom cursor. I think its pretty arguable that thats more intuitive.
- Gring 15y agoYep. There is even an undicoverable swipe gesture accros the keyboard (just like grandparent suggest Apple would not do): To split the keyboard into two, do a unpinch gesture (two fingers start in the middle, one goes to the right, the other to the left).
- joelhaasnoot 15y agoHidden features are just a way to implement adaptive interfaces right? As the user learns and discovers, the interface has more and more advanced features.
- falling 15y ago> - kill process by focusing on a process ( very useful when an app has crased, yet undiscoverable ) no. especially if the app crashed all you are doing is removing the icon from the list.
- austintaylor 15y agoI think he's talking about when an app is in a bad state, and you can kill it to force a cold launch. If the app truly crashed it would cold launch anyway.
- arantius 15y ago> It utterly destroys the direct manipulation illusion of the iPad. If you accept that a virtual keyboard is direct manipulation, can you accept that swiping the virtual keyboard is analogous to pressing the arrow keys on a physical keyboard? Then it's all the same stuff. Illusion barely broken, if at all.