This article will argue that there are two main areas which need to be addressed prior to the next fundamental shift in the usability of technology, hereafter refereed to as the Neo User Experience (NUE). The first area is Consolidation, or the aggregation of relevant data into a single view. The second area is Context, or the availability of the aggregated information in relevant circumstances.
Consolidation
Introduction to Consolidation
The NUE benefits from consolidation by gathering relevant information in a single view rather than having information disperesed across different mediums or locations. RSS is a popular consolidation tool which has brought news and blog updates into a single view, but we need to go further. Wize has the concept nailed down, rating electronics based on numerous other website ratings, Google is also following this practice quite well (examples: [1] & [2].
Benefits
The benefits should be clear, instead of having to visit a number of different sources of information, rather all the relevant information can be displayed to you as 1) an average or 2) in the original sum of its parts, giving the end user both 1) a quick overview or 2) a detailed report of the findings. An average might be useful in the case of aggregating ratings such as some of the examples above, or if reading an wikipedia article to get an overview of different opinions on a matter. The original parts are critical because they provide the validity and background sources you need to make an informed decision.
Issues
There are however a number of hurdles which must be overcome
- What sources of information do we use
- How do we get all the data together
These issues can be discussed on the Consolidation page.
Context
Introduction to Context
The NUE benefits from context by providing the aggregated and relevant information or controls to the user when they need it most. To illustrate think of a warning message that pops up in your webmail when you’re close to filling your quota (something I hope you took care of by signing up for a gmail account), The Apple iPhone is a fantastic example of how an interface can shift based on context, showing a keyboard when text messaging, but not when viewing movies. Microsoft has even embraced this with their new toolbars in Vista and Office.
Benefits
Again the benefits are obvious, instead of having to search for relevant information or controls, they are presented to you when they are needed.
Issues
The main issue which needs to be overcome is defining under what context items appear, and how these relationships work
These issues can be discussed on the Context page.
