Creating People for Interfaces

Design by Fire Conference 2010

In 1986 Bill Buxton gave a unique perspective on the WIMP interface by anthropologically reconstructing the human from the computer with its hard- and software interface. This Homo WIMPi had "a well-developed eye, a long right arm, uniform-length fingers and a "low-fi" ear." Given the progression in interfaces in the last 25 years, the reconstructed human may need to change as well. In this hands-on, plenary workshop, we will try to reconstruct our users based on our new touch, gestural, speech and other natural user interfaces. Based on this reconstruction we will discuss what paying more attention to the body language implies for designing user interfaces that are easier to learn and use.