User interface

A Bump-Covered Screen Protector Can Surprisingly Make Touchscreens React Faster to Swipes

Researchers leverage the sounds of a finger sliding across those bumps to increase performance.

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Apr 28

Is Mercedes’ MBUX a Good In-Car Computer?

Spoiler alert: Yeah, sure! For more than a decade, we’ve become accustomed to having screens in our cars. Like the keening heard over the loss of the manual transmission, some of the loudest voices echoing from the chantry of vehicular enthusiasm have added a verse about big-screen automotive interfaces to their Luddite lament. Well not…

Tech News Joel Johnson Sep 16

This Website’s Deliberately Frustrating Interface Will Make You Appreciate Good Web Design

You don’t know what you have until it’s gone is a well-worn cliche, but also an apt description of a web game called User Inyerface, created by design firm Bagaar. It takes all the normal conventions of a website’s user interface and throws them out the window, leaving one of the most user-unfriendly experiences you’ll…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Jul 5

This Solution to Phone Multitasking Is Either Genius or Totally Absurd

There’s a reason your computer’s home screen is often referred to as its desktop. The user interface is designed to emulate a physical desk covered in documents and tools. That analogy doesn’t work quite as well with a smartphone’s tiny screen, but this concept UI that switches apps automatically as you physically move your phone…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Nov 13

That Emoji Does Not Mean What You Think It Means

By now you probably know that the emoji you send on an iPhone might not be the emoji that is received on a Nexus. Since emoji are designed differently across platforms, sometimes your text messages might get lost in translation. But how differently might your well-intentioned emoji be displayed? The reality might surprise you. A…

Tech News Alissa Walker Apr 11

How Math Helped Design Your Mouse Pointer

You might think that your mouse pointer, and the rest of your computer’s user interface for that matter, was designed with a bucket load of human intuition and large dollop of design savvy. You’d be right, of course — but there was also a healthy amount of math involved in the process. In this video,…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jul 13

A close look at the crazy interfaces from The Avengers: Age of Ultron

One of my favorite things about watching movies is seeing the film’s vision of the user interfaces on screens and computers. They’re almost always over the top (like they were in the first Avengers) but I love to imagine that we’ll see all those exploded graphics in our future and pretend that all that information…

Sploid Casey Chan May 19

The Coolest Apple Watch Feature Is Silent, Invisible, and 65 Years Old

On the first day of Apple Watch pre-orders, I put on a $15k wristputer and tried to figure out what was so special about it. There was the solid gold casing, which was impressive in a blunt way, sure. I was curious about the digital crown, a new UI idea, too. But the only moment…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Apr 24

How Science Is Making It Easier To Read Screens In One Glance

How many times a day would you say you check your smartphone? Be honest. For the average person, it’s 150 times a day. And most of those interactions happen in less than a second. Today, as the first reviews of the Apple Watch rolled in, we got a look at how Apple plans to banish…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Apr 8

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Has As Much Bloatware As Ever

You know the rumors about how the Galaxy S6 would have dramatically less bloatware? How a bunch of the Samsung apps would be deletable if not completely optional? Yeah, not true. It’s a bummer, but the Galaxy S6 has as much bloatware as ever. At first glance, the new S6 and S6 Edge appear to…

Gadgets Eric Limer Mar 26

Apple Debuted a Brand-New Custom Typeface With Its Watch

Something I was watching closely as the Apple Watch was revealed today: Which typeface would grace this shiny, tiny new device? Well, it’s not Helvetica, the troublesome font that Apple recently adopted for its iOS and OS applications. It’s a brand-new typeface that was designed for excellent readability—by Apple. There are not too many specific…

Tech News Alissa Walker Sep 9

Google’s Design Mastermind Explains the Future of Android

Two years ago, as Google first showed off Android Jelly Bean, we sat down with then-Director of Android User Experience Matias Duarte to discuss where the operating system was heading. Fast forward this week’s Google I/O, where Duarte—now Google’s Vice President of Design—introduced Material Design. We had the chance, once again, to ask him about…

Tech News Brent Rose Jun 27

I Wish I Could Read Wikipedia Like This

I love Wikipedia, but too often the articles are just not that easy to read. It’s not that my English isn’t good enough. My English good. There is Simple English Wikipedia, but it doesn’t cover as many topics and it’s not as thorough. No, what bothers me about reading Wikipedia isn’t the language, it’s the…

Tech News Assaf Lavie Apr 17

Do You Miss Google’s Old School Look?

Yesterday, Google’s desktop search page got a redesign. Now it looks the same as Google’s mobile and tablet search pages—bigger titles and, notably, no more underline for linked text. Did you notice? And if you did, which do you prefer? I gotta admit, I felt like something looked unusual in my Google searches yesterday, but…

Tech News Bob Sorokanich Mar 13

Android’s Tips for Beautiful Icon Design Are the Opposite of Google’s

Today, Android published a helpful blog post offering up a list of design tips for developers slaving away over new app icons, encouraging them to use shadows, textures, and micro detail. We’re watching Android grow up into its own distinct visual identity—independent even from Google mothership. The list comes courtesy of Roman Nurik, of Android’s…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Jul 19

What Comes After Click: A Crash Course in Tangible User Interfaces

For three decades, most of us have interacted with computers in exactly the same way: We point with a mouse (or a finger!), click, and watch the screen. In one way, it’s the most outdated element of human computer interaction around. But in another, it’s the thing that’s shaped every operating system and device designed…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Jul 18

5 Things iOS 7 Tells Us About Your Next iPhone and iPad

One of the wonderful things about getting your first iPhone was the sheer self-sufficient simplicity of the thing—here was a device that served as a map, mp3 player, notebook, phone, and anything else you might need, all crunched into a beautiful little package. But if this year’s WWDC was any indication, that era of autonomous…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Jun 24

Ive’s Influence: Can a Great Product Designer Also Design Great UI?

With iOS 7 a little over a week away, it’s worth taking stock of the fact that this is Jonathan Ive’s first WWDC as Apple’s Head of Human Interface (HI). But what does it mean for an industrial designer—someone who works with atoms in three dimensions—to be put in charge of a team that works…

Tech News Don Lehman May 29

The Next Kinect Will Turn Everyone Into a Jedi—Everywhere!

Capri, the next 3D sensor by the makers of Microsoft Kinect, will bring precise, fast motion tracking to everything—from laptops and TVs to elevators, robots and appliances everywhere. Basically, it will turn everyone into Jedis or wizards, allowing you to casually wave your hand to make machines do whatever you want. Their video demo wants…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Jan 18

Every Major Android Skin Compared

Android 4.0 (a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich) is the prettiest, most intuitive version of Google’s mobile OS yet, but hardware manufacturers still insist on dirtying it up. Android skins are inevitable, but who does it best? See for yourself. In each of the comparisons, below, HTC will be on the left with its Sense 4.0 skin;…

Tech News Brent Rose Jun 26

User interface

A Bump-Covered Screen Protector Can Surprisingly Make Touchscreens React Faster to Swipes

Is Mercedes’ MBUX a Good In-Car Computer?

This Website’s Deliberately Frustrating Interface Will Make You Appreciate Good Web Design

This Solution to Phone Multitasking Is Either Genius or Totally Absurd

That Emoji Does Not Mean What You Think It Means

How Math Helped Design Your Mouse Pointer

A close look at the crazy interfaces from The Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Coolest Apple Watch Feature Is Silent, Invisible, and 65 Years Old

How Science Is Making It Easier To Read Screens In One Glance

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Has As Much Bloatware As Ever

Apple Debuted a Brand-New Custom Typeface With Its Watch

Google’s Design Mastermind Explains the Future of Android

I Wish I Could Read Wikipedia Like This

Do You Miss Google’s Old School Look?

Android’s Tips for Beautiful Icon Design Are the Opposite of Google’s

What Comes After Click: A Crash Course in Tangible User Interfaces

5 Things iOS 7 Tells Us About Your Next iPhone and iPad

Ive’s Influence: Can a Great Product Designer Also Design Great UI?

The Next Kinect Will Turn Everyone Into a Jedi—Everywhere!

Every Major Android Skin Compared

Microsoft Says You’re Not Supposed to Take Copilot’s Advice Seriously

Amazon Is Sticking With ‘Rings of Power’ to the End

Trump Is Reportedly Going Full Steam Ahead with the Golden Dome

‘Kamen Rider’ Is Ready to Take on the World

Twitter Just Can’t Stop Leaking Movies

The ‘Mass Effect’ Show is Getting Rewritten to Get Greenlit

See the Early Stages of How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Brought Rocky to Life

‘Cognitive Surrender’ Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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