Comments on: Short video of the OLPC UI action http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/ User Experience Design & Research, written by Harry Brignull Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:09:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Rubidothttp://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/comment-page-1/#comment-22480 Rubidot Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:12:20 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/#comment-22480 the only thing I can say about that with conviction is that getting rid of the address bar is a bad move. If I tell someone my website is bluebottleimages.org, its much easier for them to type bluebottleimages.org in the address bar than to try to google it and sift through all the results (which I think are mostly sub-pages and files when you google mine). Otherwise, it looks alright. One of the main purposes of it is to connect kids to each other via the internet, right? Have kids in different places in the world talking to each other, playing together etc. I think it'll do that. the only thing I can say about that with conviction is that getting rid of the address bar is a bad move. If I tell someone my website is bluebottleimages.org, its much easier for them to type bluebottleimages.org in the address bar than to try to google it and sift through all the results (which I think are mostly sub-pages and files when you google mine).

Otherwise, it looks alright. One of the main purposes of it is to connect kids to each other via the internet, right? Have kids in different places in the world talking to each other, playing together etc. I think it’ll do that.

]]> By: zcathttp://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/comment-page-1/#comment-174 zcat Wed, 03 Jan 2007 04:20:12 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/#comment-174 My first impression is that this was a really bad decision. But why start with Fedora? Cutting down a full-size distro seems like the wrong approach to me, I'd have built up from LFS or one of the really minimal liveCD's like Puppy or Feather. Why a whole new desktop? I'm sure I could do 90% of what sugar does just by adding a few sidebars and configuring XFCE nicely. Why cut the applications down like that? Is an application menu or an address bar in firefox really so confusing when one-button access to the underlying program code is not? The hardware is brilliant. I've run xubuntu on slower machines and it's perfectly adequate. The software I'm not sure yet. Hopefully it feels quite different when it's running on the actual hardware with, but on the emulator it's too much like just another educational toy.. My first impression is that this was a really bad decision. But why start with Fedora? Cutting down a full-size distro seems like the wrong approach to me, I’d have built up from LFS or one of the really minimal liveCD’s like Puppy or Feather.

Why a whole new desktop? I’m sure I could do 90% of what sugar does just by adding a few sidebars and configuring XFCE nicely. Why cut the applications down like that? Is an application menu or an address bar in firefox really so confusing when one-button access to the underlying program code is not?

The hardware is brilliant. I’ve run xubuntu on slower machines and it’s perfectly adequate. The software I’m not sure yet. Hopefully it feels quite different when it’s running on the actual hardware with, but on the emulator it’s too much like just another educational toy..

]]> By: Demo av One Laptop per Child-gränssnittet « false messiahhttp://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/comment-page-1/#comment-61 Demo av One Laptop per Child-gränssnittet « false messiah Sun, 26 Nov 2006 23:48:17 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/#comment-61 [...] 90 percent of everything har satt ihop en kort demo. Finns också i behändigare format på Youtube. [...] [...] 90 percent of everything har satt ihop en kort demo. Finns också i behändigare format på Youtube. [...]

]]> By: Andy Bakerhttp://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/comment-page-1/#comment-47 Andy Baker Tue, 21 Nov 2006 17:42:21 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/#comment-47 I linked to the source for the phrase 'leaky abstraction' in the comment. It's a nice metaphor coined by Joel Spolksy who writes a wonderfully readable blog on software development and the industry in general. Here's my take on it. Abstractions are intended to hide complexity from the user. You don't need to know about frequencies to change the channel on a TV. You don't need to know about HTML to author web pages in FrontPage. Unfortunately for any system of reasonable complexity (i.e. any software) these abstractions are usually incomplete. And they usually break down at the point of highest complexity i.e. when you need them the most. So in many cases abstractions can make things harder for the end user by adding another layer on top of an existing system where in some cases just using the underlying system would have been easier to comprehend than system+imperfect abstraction. wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_abstraction I linked to the source for the phrase ‘leaky abstraction’ in the comment. It’s a nice metaphor coined by Joel Spolksy who writes a wonderfully readable blog on software development and the industry in general.

Here’s my take on it. Abstractions are intended to hide complexity from the user. You don’t need to know about frequencies to change the channel on a TV. You don’t need to know about HTML to author web pages in FrontPage. Unfortunately for any system of reasonable complexity (i.e. any software) these abstractions are usually incomplete. And they usually break down at the point of highest complexity i.e. when you need them the most.

So in many cases abstractions can make things harder for the end user by adding another layer on top of an existing system where in some cases just using the underlying system would have been easier to comprehend than system+imperfect abstraction.

wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_abstraction

]]> By: Jonnyhttp://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/comment-page-1/#comment-46 Jonny Tue, 21 Nov 2006 17:16:49 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/#comment-46 There is more on the way the UI works <a href="http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Human_Interface_Guidelines#Zoom_Metaphor" rel="nofollow">here (on the OLPC wiki)</a>. I wonder how much actual user testing has been carried out. I mean, on the actual target user groups. I suspect that they have got way too creative. PS What's a leaky abstraction? There is more on the way the UI works here (on the OLPC wiki).

I wonder how much actual user testing has been carried out. I mean, on the actual target user groups. I suspect that they have got way too creative.

PS What’s a leaky abstraction?

]]> By: Andy Bakerhttp://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/comment-page-1/#comment-45 Andy Baker Tue, 21 Nov 2006 16:18:57 +0000 http://www.90percentofeverything.com/2006/11/21/short-video-of-the-olpc-ui-action/#comment-45 My first feeling is 'yuk!'. It feels a bit like a walled garden. What's the age group it's aimed at? I know a lot of innovative thinking went into it so I intend to play with it some more. I think it's dangerous to hide too much complexity as you'll get your feet wet with <a title="Joel on Software: The Law of Leaky Abstractions" href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html" rel="nofollow">leaky abstractions</a>. I think hiding the URL in the web browser is an example of one abstraction too far. My first feeling is ‘yuk!’. It feels a bit like a walled garden. What’s the age group it’s aimed at?

I know a lot of innovative thinking went into it so I intend to play with it some more. I think it’s dangerous to hide too much complexity as you’ll get your feet wet with leaky abstractions. I think hiding the URL in the web browser is an example of one abstraction too far.

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