Microsoft Research 'invents' Dance Dance Revolution... is this a joke? [Microsoft Research 'invents' Dance Dance Revolution... is this a joke?]

toast — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 00:26:17 GMT

You know, MSR is an organisation where some really fantastic work is being done. However, when I read about the DDR project and result, I had to check whether or not this was a joke, because the idea is so damn lame and the execution of it pretty damn cludgey.

Here is an example of some really, really cool input tech that is the kind of thing I would have expected from MSR:

http://mrl.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/

(you'll need Quicktime to play the demo clip).

This is the kind of thing I could visualise being hooked up to a Windows Vista based appliance, with only the functional app exposed in the UI, inside my house for interacting with various appliances, my PC and the 'Net.

The screen could be some waffer thin OLED technology that would just hang on the wall.

in reply to Microsoft Research 'invents' Dance Dance Revolution... is this a joke?

Microsoft's development of UI and usability across its teams and projects... [Microsoft's development of UI and usability across its teams and projects...]

toast — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 04:01:07 GMT

I have some burning questions about UI development: Does Microsoft have a dedicated UI team that guides all UI design for all new/existing projects? In order to raise the quality of the UI experience across all its products, what steps is Microsoft taking? Are they taking any real steps at all?

I believe Apple have a strict UI design guide, though I am not sure they have a core UI team that acts as both design team and consulting team for the rest of the company.

The area that Microsoft could do better in is definately a higher level of quality in UI standardisation. From what I understand, the primary goal of UI design is for the application/UI to 'by the nature of its design' impart to the user how the application should be used and re-enforce the correct or best way that things should be done with the app. To, on a fundamental level, guide the user's discovery and implimentation of the app as a tool.

So, the app allows the user to get a real and tangable feel for what the program is about, how to go about doing things and where to find the things to do it. The UI should negate the need to continually refer to user documentation and lessen the need for tooltips, etc.

Microsoft Office 12 looks to be many or all of these things. However, it is unclear if that design team will/does assist other teams with their apps/projects, and it is unclear if Microsoft actually has, or is moving in the direction of, a rigorus framework for quality assurance across all UI development. Perhaps it is not the responsibility of the Office 12 UI team to grow beyond their success with Office. So who's responsibility is it to ensure quality UI in Microsoft apps/os?

Are individual teams left to do their own UI?

Robert, it would be fantastic to see some information about this stuff on Channel9.

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Entries for toast

Microsoft Research 'invents' Dance Dance Revolution... is this a joke? [Microsoft Research 'invents' Dance Dance Revolution... is this a joke?]

Microsoft's development of UI and usability across its teams and projects... [Microsoft's development of UI and usability across its teams and projects...]