technology
siftables
16/02/09 09:50 Filed in: Education
I have to
say something about this after I saw the
demonstration on TED on my ipod touch this morning on
the way to school.
Check out siftables
It’s brilliant. I totally agree with and share the idea and concept of the creator of siftables. Having, presenting and comprehending, manipulating information on our own human terms. Smart technology that do away with complex interfaces and act on what is more natural and human to us human beings.
Most machineries, equipments, websites, web application have interfaces that totally astounds us. It could look so complex that its too tiresome to learn how to operate it. So we just let it be.
Take for example my personal experience with this company that sells its web application service to schools. They sell a so-called one-stop solution where teachers and students and parents can login and put educational materials in there like lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes, presentations, video, etc.
Now it all sounds brilliant until the teachers were asked to attend this training session to learn how to use the web app.
When it was presented to us on our computer screens in the lab, we were shocked. Most of us anyway. Others try to look impressed and diligently trying to understand how the thing worked.
The problem was, there were too many options presented on screen, too many buttons to press, too many things to click through before we can get down to do what we wanted to do in the first place. The person selling that web app was trying his best trying to make us understand how to go through each and every single option in that app.
Now, if you’re a total geek and a PC user, you might be slightly interested in what the trainer was trying to explain about the myriads of bells and whistles in that app. The rest of us, well, were basically struggling, become upset, resented and finally felt dejected because that app made most of the teachers feel STUPID.
Heck, I felt stupid. It was unbelievable. Yet the VP came up to me and casually said, “this should not be a problem for you right?” And with that she winked, suggesting that with my background in IT, this whole mess of a web app should be a walk in the park for me.
I gave a wry smile.
I didn’t even bother to learn how to work that terrible app. Heck I didn’t even bother to use it. I asked another teacher to help me to do it. Since the head teacher in charge of IT wants all teachers to make use of it to put up worksheets quizzes etc so that students can go online and do them when they are away from school. No prizes for guessing who agreed to engage that company to sell the web app to school. Hint: Head teacher in charge of IT. Was that a giveaway? oops…
So you see, simplicity is the key.
Ever since 2004 when I got introduced/suckered into Apple computers, my whole perspective changed about user interfaces and how information should be presented to people and how I should present information to people.
I was blown away because the clutter and the incessant bother of pop-up warnings, too many click-throughs, etc that I was expecting when I first used a Mac wasn’t there. It felt like a breath of fresh air. I have not used a PC since then.
Ever since then, I have been learning and creating interfaces that are more meaningful, easily understood, and as simple as humanly possible. I am still learning.
Check out siftables
It’s brilliant. I totally agree with and share the idea and concept of the creator of siftables. Having, presenting and comprehending, manipulating information on our own human terms. Smart technology that do away with complex interfaces and act on what is more natural and human to us human beings.
Most machineries, equipments, websites, web application have interfaces that totally astounds us. It could look so complex that its too tiresome to learn how to operate it. So we just let it be.
Take for example my personal experience with this company that sells its web application service to schools. They sell a so-called one-stop solution where teachers and students and parents can login and put educational materials in there like lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes, presentations, video, etc.
Now it all sounds brilliant until the teachers were asked to attend this training session to learn how to use the web app.
When it was presented to us on our computer screens in the lab, we were shocked. Most of us anyway. Others try to look impressed and diligently trying to understand how the thing worked.
The problem was, there were too many options presented on screen, too many buttons to press, too many things to click through before we can get down to do what we wanted to do in the first place. The person selling that web app was trying his best trying to make us understand how to go through each and every single option in that app.
Now, if you’re a total geek and a PC user, you might be slightly interested in what the trainer was trying to explain about the myriads of bells and whistles in that app. The rest of us, well, were basically struggling, become upset, resented and finally felt dejected because that app made most of the teachers feel STUPID.
Heck, I felt stupid. It was unbelievable. Yet the VP came up to me and casually said, “this should not be a problem for you right?” And with that she winked, suggesting that with my background in IT, this whole mess of a web app should be a walk in the park for me.
I gave a wry smile.
I didn’t even bother to learn how to work that terrible app. Heck I didn’t even bother to use it. I asked another teacher to help me to do it. Since the head teacher in charge of IT wants all teachers to make use of it to put up worksheets quizzes etc so that students can go online and do them when they are away from school. No prizes for guessing who agreed to engage that company to sell the web app to school. Hint: Head teacher in charge of IT. Was that a giveaway? oops…
So you see, simplicity is the key.
Ever since 2004 when I got introduced/suckered into Apple computers, my whole perspective changed about user interfaces and how information should be presented to people and how I should present information to people.
I was blown away because the clutter and the incessant bother of pop-up warnings, too many click-throughs, etc that I was expecting when I first used a Mac wasn’t there. It felt like a breath of fresh air. I have not used a PC since then.
Ever since then, I have been learning and creating interfaces that are more meaningful, easily understood, and as simple as humanly possible. I am still learning.
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