User Interfaces

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Cloud responsibilities

December 12, 2009 in User Experiences, User Interfaces by hugo.mag | No comments

New applications developed under the all-in-one cloud umbrella (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc.) have several responsibilities that are often referred by IT specialists: They need to be more agile, create new markets and reach far more customers, help lowering Total cost of ownership (TCO), create new business models, etc, etc, etc. than their Off-the-shelf older cousins.

In this large umbrella I’m specially interested in business applications that are used by normal users (non techies). These type of applications have another responsibility: They need to change the way non-IT users perceive and use business software.
I state this because when I talk to friends, coworkers and even family about their use of business software I always have the feeling that they hate working with them (ERPs for example). These users too often become angry users that avoid working with software for as long as they can. Many times they tell me that these business aplications are difficult to use, have too many options (that clutter the user interface) and fail too many times. Some of them even have found ways to taken advantage from software bugs so they can get around some limitations in this systems.
Besides being an IT guy, I’m also an user and to be honest too many times I have the same feelings.

In the cloud ecosystem we already see some players that serve as a good example of transforming these angry users in happy ones. One of them is 37 signals. Their release of basecamp some years ago helped users to move from big systems (like Microsoft Project) to a clean and simpler approach of “less is more” in the project management area.

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AMD Render Fusion – moving from the meta information paradigm to a pixel information paradigm?

March 17, 2009 in CloudViews, News, Technical, User Interfaces by pcalcada | No comments

In his blog, Simon Solotko, talks about how Render Fusion could change the way the Cloud and the clients  interact. His vision is very futuristic, and it contains a little “Blade Runner” like thoughts, but I think that we need this kind of vision.  As a summary of his vision I have selected the following part of his text.

“Rendering in the Cloud can solve the bandwidth problem by capping the bandwidth problem. All I need to do is refresh a screen with data at a particular resolution appropriate to the client’s screen and available bandwidth. No additional bandwidth needed between the client and the server, ever – only three variables, screen size, interface visual integrity, and upstream user input. Peak bandwidth requirements become fixed and predictable.”
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Moving forward in the PC Webization process

March 6, 2009 in CloudViews, User Experiences, User Interfaces by pcalcada | No comments

As many of us are defending, and  many of us are heavily criticizing (ex: blog 1,blog 2), the process of PC webization will be one of the greatest achievements of the Cloud Computing paradigm. Despite the fact that we can’t even call it a process, in my perspective, a process must be something with a well defined starting and with an predictable ending point, preferable with a developing plan or study. The PC webization is already happening, and  directly or indirectly, is already potentiating great technological developments.
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The Internet command prompt and (maybe) the Internet clipboard

February 17, 2009 in Interoperability, Technical, User Experiences, User Interfaces by pcalcada | No comments

With the Cloud Computing Paradigm, at least until recent developments, we have only worked with already existing technologies. Most of all, what Cloud Computing paradigm adds is the great feature of concentrating everything in a articulated and integrated way.

To be able to add real value to the Cloud Computing products and solutions we must innovate,  not only in the infrastructural technologies, but also in those who will have direct impact in user experience.  In the time being we already have interoperability technologies,  Identity Management and authorization platforms, great developing tools and deployment platforms, etc, etc.  And what about new functionalities, features that will add real value and will be able to create new kind of user experience? In a recent post Pedro has introduced interesting points about how the Cloud will expand or grow, but I think that we could start by simpler examples.
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Widget development for TV and for us all

January 13, 2009 in News, User Interfaces by hugo.mag | No comments

The recent agreement between Yahoo and Samsung is very interesting for us tech guys. Will we be able to create new applications (and make money) for TV?  Will this extend the reach of YouTube and create more market for others in the same market (like Joost, etc.) and even for other companies (like Microsoft, Facebook, etc.)?

The answer for me for both questions is yes, although I think that this will take time to accomplish because we have many TV brands (with different hardware and software) and widget platforms (from Yahoo, Google, Facebook, etc.) and  they also need to come on board and make agreements between them.

But if we start to see many different APIs (one for each TV/widget platform) we will be faced with a problem because the effort to build óur killer application will significantly increase. A OpenSocial like effort would speed up things to the benefit of us all.

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Why are we so afraid to move to the Cloud?

January 13, 2009 in Basic Views, Interoperability, User Experiences, User Interfaces by pcalcada | 1 comment

Every remembrance that I have from a usual visit to my bank in the nineties, when I had started managing my own (small) bank account, always begins with a large standing queue.  But, suddenly, everything changed, and my dark remembrances were transformed into an “easy as click” sensation.

This new “click experiences” didn’t  have an easy start as I now remember it. In the begining, I had the same doubts and fears as everyone had. To have private information on the Web, especially the one’s regarding financial situation,  accessible to everyone, was a “terrifying” sensation. This “terrifying” sensation was always in opposition to the excitement of having a powerful personal finance managing application, and more, an application that we could used everywhere and on every scenarios – being on vacation and have the possibility to pay a bill that we had forgotten; making a last hour stock action’s investment; make a bank transfer to a friend; etc.

Those scenarios were, in fact,  very exciting, but as I vividly remember, the fear from losing the control over this new powerful application, and consequently, lose the control of our personal finances was always evermore present.

And how did this end? How has this incremental fear stopped? The answer is obviously not simple, but definitely, it must be related with reputation and trust links, I’ve already talked about that in a previous post. In this example, the solid reputation that the banks had,  together with a large development in security technologies,  were fundamental to create the trust links and to allow a phenomenal development in the home banking applications field.

And now, why are we so afraid to move to the Cloud? Why don’t we let ourselves be embraced by the power of having all our applications on the Web, not only our personal finances’ application, but all of them? My simple answer is: We don’t know what is the Cloud, or even, what is the Cloud is made of.

We must first realise that the Cloud is a group of services providers, like our bank an its home bank application. We must realise that, and then wait to see how these new service providers will construct their reputation and  how that reputation will be able to enhance our trust feeling.

I can now say that we should consider home banking as pre-historical Cloud Computing and an example to follow.

PS:
We are in an era where the banks’ reputation is not what it was back then, although this is completely out of the scope of this post, I think that this is something that will change. It must. Without this thing called reputation we won’t have the trust that has made possible this pre-historical Cloud Computing…

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