One of the ways of improving the system is by re-imagining it as an app.  Andreas Hellqvist, a concerned netizen, took it upon himself to conceptualize an app from the ground up that centralizes all notifications. The user interface design of the concept app was built using existing iOS visual elements so it fits snugly. Since it is an app, users can decide how important notifications are and can place the app in the quick start bar or any other part of the user interface design. Open the app and all your mails, missed calls, Facebook posts, and software updates can be seen at a glance. The lock screen also displays numerous notifications and uses the same slide to unlock paradigm to access and act on notifications (such as kick starting the Mail app to reply) from the lock screen itself. The concept and user interface design is so completely formed it almost makes the current notification system appear outdated!

BMW has also developed better integration of the iDrive system with the iPhone. Downloading the free BMW Connected app and connecting a smartphone allows users access to certain apps through the iDrive’s display. This allows drivers to access these services through a user interface design and a controller designed to allow drivers to keep driving at the same time. This may sound alarming but if you consider all the time spent in traffic then it makes sense to be able to access iPhone services without having to pick it up only to put it down again to move forward a little bit. The App allows users to access music, web radio as well as Twitter and Facebook.  The news feeds are modified to fit the user interface design of the iDrive (i.e. less but bigger-sized text). The Controller knob obviously has no keyboard but instead leverages real-time data from the car to suggest pre-composed statements such as “it’s 32°C out and i’m driving around in my BMW” etc

In order to solve usability and user interface design conundrums such as these the EXOPC tablet has taken a similar route as the likes of HTC and Motorola with Android. What those firms did was to create a custom UI design on top of Android to make it more appealing and usable. The EXOPC gives users the best of both worlds. On one hand users can run Windows 7 as is or they can switch to the EXOPC custom user interface design that is optimized for touch input. The custom user interface design combines the ease-of-use of touch with the true multitasking of Windows 7, not to mention full on Adobe Flash. The device is on the pricey side but considering that the iPad cannot run heavyweight programs such as Adobe Master Collection then the price becomes more palatable. Furthermore there’s an EXOPC app store where you can download a ton of content that is optimized for the custom UI design. Despite doing a great job in terms of hardware (i.e. USB ports etc.) and user interface design my main fear for the EXOPC is that Windows 8 will render it somewhat redundant.

A year later and Nielsen has revisited the user interface design of iPad apps. Naturally the user interface designs of iPad apps have improved but some findings are replicated in the new study.  The read-tap asymmetry still holds true. This is when text large enough to read is too small to tap thereby making the user interface design more frustrating. In the same vein touchable areas tended to be small and close to each other resulting in accidental activation. Navigation remains problematic though. Many users are not given enough indication of many of the tap-able links on the user interface design. The same goes for swipe-able areas whereby some users would swipe the wrong area and consider the app to be broken. On the positive side apps are now integrating back buttons, broader use of search, homepages, and other elements into their user interface designs. Considering how nascent the iPad is the signs are all-together promising.

The most rudimentary (and cheapest) way of creating wireframes is through the use of pen and paper. Some interface designers are also creating “paper wireframes” through PowerPoint, Fireworks, or Illustrator. Paper prototypes are cheap to create, and software allows you to easily add text, symbols, stencils, and the like as well as employing templates for even more rapid iteration. However, interactive wireframing tools possess the added advantage of interactivity, which opens doors for collaboration between team members and even clients. Furthermore, they engender feedback from all stakeholders and can even go as far as mimicking website functionality (such as clickable links etc.). Interactive wireframing tools usually allow for simple interface design by employing drag-and-drop of pre-fabricated UI components. This means that interface design can be done by virtually anyone without having to know coding. Wireframing tools can be web-based Software-as-a-Software or a native client that you install.
Examples of interactive wireframing tools include Axure, pidoco, Balsamiq and iRise. The wireframes can then be used in usability testing in order to be improved. Usability testing can be done with paper prototypes or digital prototypes.  Digital prototypes often require expensive specialized usability testing software such, but in rare cases (such as pidoco) does a wireframing tool also have the capability to conduct usability testing without the need for additional software.

Along with images from patent applications unmistakably showing devices with user interfaces operated by the familiar touch screen technology, Engadget has reported that Sintek Photonics have been shipping Apple 20-plus-inch touch panels, which they have no doubt been experimenting with in the R&D department as future UIs of the next generation of computers. The question is will this concept, like scores of enticing concept cars, remain at the prototype level or will it actually evolve into a commercial product with an innovative combination of touch screen interface design and the familiar Apple features? Considering the iPad’s reality, the chances of interface design on desktops and laptops having to accommodate both the tiny mouse cursor and our thicker fingers seems all the more likely.

Certainly, the biggest clues to this possible iteration of user interface design of the Mac platform will be gleaned from the next version of Mac OS X. The more it borrows from or moves towards the mobile iOS will be most telling. A touchscreen iMac will have several implications for interface designs. Already the iPad’s screen size in relation to the iPhone has led Jakob Nielsen to comment, “An iPad user interface shouldn’t be a scaled up iPhone UI”. There is also the read-tap asymmetry where text big enough to read is too small to touch. This “fat finger” problem would only be exacerbated when jumping to the iMac’s screen size (which ranges from full HD to even more pixels). Apple would essentially have to revise long-standing Graphical User Interface Design guidelines to accommodate solutions to such problems. When or will a touch based Mac come out? Will it be practical for daily activities and business use? Only time will tell…

The user interface design of webOS 2.0 is now cleaner due to some graphic elements being changed resulting in a more refined interface design that is also more legible. A good example of this is with the launcher and search apps (now dubbed Just Type). According to tech analyst Joshua Topolsky the launcher now has clearer navigational elements in its UI, and the search function now provides a “clearer delineation of sections” as well as more options that improve on the OS’ usability.

The overall navigation of the user interface design is improved with the introduction of Stacks as well as the aforementioned search app. The new Quick Actions API allows users to, for example, just type an intended status update in the search field and then through Quick Actions launch the Facebook app with all text transferred directly into the app’s UI. Stacks allows users to better organize their multitasking and overall navigation by grouping apps within the user interface. Users can create, for example, a social stack for social networking apps etc. Whatever you do in a stack that launches a new card, such as a new link or page, they remain grouped within that stack allowing users to easily navigate.

Options like these strengthen the notion that webOS is not merely trying to be a copycat of Apple’s iOS interface design features and functionality in a bid to play catch-up but instead focusing on innovating. As far as the software is concerned webOS is the underdog that matches and in some cases outdoes the competition. The goal for the company now would be to get as many developers on board as possible to take advantage of the OS and create apps with great UI designs and usability.

Although the navigation is easier, the default homepage has been changed from ‘Top News’ to ‘My News’. As of writing there is still no way to change that setting. Perhaps with a little time users will come to love the new ‘My News’ page. From a usability perspective, the switch to the Cassandra database management system has been fraught with bugs following massive uptime and reliability problems.  Despite all the protestations Digg’s future, it would seem, is still intact. They have had a number of revolts in the past already. When version 3 of Digg’s user interface design was released they also received a number of complaints from users but over time a lot of the issues were resolved. It will be interesting to see how Digg will react to appease users.

The revolt against the new interface design has already claimed casualties as Digg’s VP of engineering was fired. The biggest gripe users have with the new Digg, in terms of user interface design, is the lack of the ‘bury’ button. Now users can only ‘like’ a news story but cannot ‘bury’ it to make the news story less popular. The reasoning behind the lesion of the ‘bury’ button is that users abused the feature. Now users have the option to either report a story, should they find it offensive, or they can ‘hide’ a story. ‘Diggers’ became attached to the bury button and as such removing it was bound to backfire.