Microsoft Bob Gets the Last Laugh
How an early experiment in metaphor design predicted the future of user experience
Before Alexa, before Siri, and even before the meme-ified Clippy, there was Microsoft Bob and his rad pad.
Take a walk down memory lane and you might spot this familiar door on your stroll.
You knock, and the ever-faithful Rover lets you in. Your eyes adjust as you step into an unfamiliar living room. Through the window you see a pixelated setting sun reflecting streaks of yellow on a shimmering red lake.
You take a look around, and start to wonder where Bob is. Hmm… well, there’s an open checkbook and a crackling fire: he must’ve just run out for a quick second. Your mind wanders. “Maybe I’m Bob,” you think, but you can’t be sure — there are no photos. Eerie. But soon Rover is back, and he’s calling you by name. Silly guest, of course you’re not Bob. You’re just keeping everything you own at his house!
And so begins the extended metaphor that is the Microsoft Bob interface.
Informed by an IBM software interface design methodology known as “RealThings”…
