A common whiteboard language for Product, UX, and UI people. Stakeholders welcome.

What is it?

It’s a visual system that I use when working on a whiteboard. It associates the glyphs sketched on a whiteboard to the common elements in User Interfaces. It’s a group of symbols and patterns that is useful when generating or refining ideas on a whiteboard. Mobile interfaces, websites, product workflows, and web applications, etc.

Who it for?

Product people, UX and UI Designers, Front end developers, Stakeholders, Website Designers, etc. People making views on the web, mobile devices, online experiences, shopping carts — you understand. Those who enjoy taking people’s ideas and bringing them to light.

My theory is, that if we share a deeper understanding of our initial ideas, we can get to building technology much faster than ever before. We can communicate and get to what works. …

How the film defined the future of User Interface (UI) design.

Do you remember when you first saw the movie Minority Report? Anyone practicing interaction design at the time does. I remember watching the film and becoming fascinated by the way Tom Cruise interacted with the computer. As a digital designer, the sweeping gestures and virtual screens appeared to be a new way to interact with a digital world.

A touch of history

Movie producers (*cough* Steven Spielberg) had a problem: “How will we interact with computers in fifty years?” They approached an Interface Designer by the name of John Underkoffler to explore solutions. John and his team dove into research around how humans currently interact using gestures. …

For anyone that has gone through the little ‘betacoin’ experience for Mailbox OSX (beta) …

They could have sent a link or simple code — but no —they send you this little guy. An animated access token. (See here for full onboarding experience and some great notes.) They made the process fun, delightful, and filled with personality. It’s a great example of people in our industry innovating in the least expected way. What used to be a stale experience has now become interactive, relatable, and somewhat* intuitive.

*I hesitate to claim it’s super straight-forward for novice users, but that’s not who Mailbox is targeting in beta (I’m guessing). With some education, this approach can become something quite usable and quickly understood for those who are ‘less comfortable with technology’. …

From the moment I wake up until the wee hours of the night I’m connected to some sort of device. Typing, clicking, scrolling, swiping. The glow of a screen is my nightlight and my phone the morning alarm. I love technology. Access to the internet is like some sort of super power. Directions, recipes, advice, friends, knowledge and inspiration. All at our fingertips, anytime we want it. It’s phenomenally powerful and incredibly addictive. That’s why every so often - I must disconnect.

I spent the weekend in the rural countryside in an old cabin my father and his friends purchased in 1977. During the drive the landscape eases into Amish country. Dirt roads and old homes. Open fields, grain silos and the smell of fresh manure. Set back down a rutted and muddy driveway lies the wooden structure. Most everything is poorly rigged up. Duct-tape, nails, old couches, TV’s stacked upon TV’s. Everything is second hand and any improvements are generally made from leftovers from random construction sites. It seems as if nothing is in working order. It’s a battle to get the radio working, hot water is scarce and you better have wood chopped if you’d like to stay warm. Any slight luxury needs to be worked for and therefore is valued that much more. A proper lack of cleanliness takes you outside of your comfort zone - but there’s a roof over your head, a place to wash your face and acres of wilderness to explore. …