We saw this tweet from John Maeda today and thought it was great advice for all…not just designers.
Earlybird Lea Lynch gave us an overview of Things for Mac - a crucial productivity application from Cultured Code. Although there are thousands of List Management applications out there, Things distinguishes itself with its thoughtfully integrated visual design, and focused core functionality.
These are some of our favorite central features of this application:
- Keyboard shortcuts allow you to add a To Do item without leaving your current app.
- “Someday” category makes it easier to manage tasks with vague or flexible due dates.
- Recurring items appear only when you need to be reminded of them, eliminating clutter.
We recommend you give Things a shot, it’s free to try at Cultured Code’s website.
This week, Earlybird Adam Miller walked us through some of the UI features of Microsoft’s Kinect for the Xbox 360.
Although we appreciate innovative gaming enhancements, we are even more excited to see these nifty interactions applied to everyday user interfaces. Kinect’s impressive recognition capabilities eliminate the need for tedious log-ins. Verbal commands are supplemented by onscreen options, and there is visual feedback for virtually every interaction — a crucial feature for an interface that essentially forms assumptions about the user’s intentions.
We’re excited to see how bandwidth and resolution improvements will affect UI development. Sensor-based technologies are likely to result in a proliferation of Kinect-like interactions into other arenas such as home automation, mobile devices, and experimental applications like surgical robotics!
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Happy Holidays from Earlybird!
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Our Virtual Wallet project is a winner! Recipient of a 2010 Gold IDEA award, Virtual Wallet continues to receive rave reviews by end users and critics alike. Check out Virtual Wallet at PNC Bank today!
PNC Bank’s Virtual Wallet is a fun and engaging take on money management software. Through a highly visual and interactive set of tools, users manage their budgets, savings goals, and bill payments. Virtual Wallet expresses complex financial concepts in a way that even mathematically-challenged individuals can understand. It enables users to take charge of their financial health and turns an otherwise daunting task into a fun & enjoyable experience.
Earlybird (supporting IDEO) developed the visual & interaction design language for the Virtual Wallet software.
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“We have a ‘strategic plan.’ It’s called doing things.” —
-Herb Kelleher, co-founder, and former chairman and CEO of Southwest Airlines.
