h a l f b a k e r y
Is it soup yet?
idea:
add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, best, random
meta:
news, help, about, links, report a problem
account:
Browse anonymously,
or get an account
and write.
Login
Create account.
|
|
| Please log in.
If you're not logged in,
you can see what this page
looks like, but you will
not be able to add anything.
PROBLEM:
The "one size fits all" nature of most appliance UIs renders them unusable by certain demographic groups.
SOLUTION:
Standardize the ability to customize the UI on any modern household appliance.
RATIONALE:
Consider an average household microwave oven. The UI ordinarily consists of
a keypad with numbers, a START button, a STOP button, a button to open the door, and any of various other buttons and doodads, along with a readout. For *many* people, this interface is too much. Some people use a microwave only to cook popcorn, for example. For such people, all that is necessary is a single button "make popcorn" (which could be further simplified with just a picture of a popcorn kernel). It would be nice if, in addition to the microwave oven, I could purchase a "swappable" set of UI components, so that I could customize the interface whenever I wanted to, to reflect my preferences.
PITFALLS:
People might wind up losing the UI to their appliances, just like they lose their remote control. This could be mitigated by making the UI a LCD 'touchscreen' monitor built-in to the appliance, but then that would make them more expensive.
Short name, e.g., Bob's Coffee
Destination URL.
E.g., http://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)
|
| |
My microwave has a "Popcorn" button. But yeah, there too many other buttons on it. |
|
| |
This seems like a good idea, but is actually a horrible one. Customizable UIs in software already make tech support into a nightmare. More software-like UIs are the last thing we need for clueless users. |
|
| |
Instead, focus should be on "simpler" UIs. Best Microwave interface I've seen: a power dial, and a time dial. Turning the dial starts the oven, opening the door stops it (you could add a "popcorn" button to it, but that's it...) |
|
| |
On the other hand, it could be useful for hackers. I'm taking the fishbone away... |
|
| |
I like this because it would let me do what I already do with my email client, web browser and many other applications - it seems a natural extension to want to do the same with household appliances too. |
|
| |
On the other hand, there's a possibility that less technology-comfortable users would shy away from customisable UI's, "in case I break something by changing things". If you can get around that and help them find a (perceived) benefit, this could be a good sales gimmick at least. |
|
| |