Windows on another world

Imagine that digital information exist in another world that lies just beneath our feet. A world jam-pack with data and activity, a world of ever increasing importance.

But as the creators of this world it is strange that we are forever looking down, peering through tiny windows to gain access and view a snapshot of what is going on.

Surely this is not right, we should be bringing this world out into our own. Making these windows as large and expansive as possible, through which we can survey and interact with this information. Here is a good example:



and also this:

Physical Email

I've been thinking about some sort of physical email for sometime now. Something that recaptures the tactile nature of receiving a letter while maintaining the convenience of email.

I stumbled upon this the other day – genius.


Tableau: physical email from John Kestner on Vimeo.

You can read more about his work here.

Lexus LFA Digital Speedometer

Nice interface

A New Dimension to Touch

Looks like pressure sensitive touch screens could be just round the corner according to this article on the BBC.  The added dimension this could add to interaction is pretty exciting with a few examples shown here and a bit more about QTC, the magical material behind this, here.

And in a completely different vein, but some how related, is this amazing video.


Glass Is Liquid. from Mike Call on Vimeo.

The fold is dead, long live the fold

This article from CX Partners demonstrates, based on the findings of user testing, why it is no longer vital to get all your content above the page fold.

However, how we design the area above the fold does effect the likely hood of somebody exploring further down the page. For example, having less above the fold actually encourages exploration as shown in the results of this eye tracking test for Bristol Airport.

Here are their three tips to encourage user to explore below the fold:

Less is more – don’t be tempted to cram everything above the fold. Good use of whitespace and imagery encourages exploration.

Stark, horizontal lines discourage scrolling - this doesn’t mean stop using horizontal full width elements. Have a small amount of content just visible, poking up above the fold to encourage scrolling.

Avoid the use of in-page scroll bars - the browser scrollbar is an indicator of the amount of content on the page. iFrames and other elements with scroll bars in the page can break this convention and may lead to content not being seen.

Read the full article here.