Microsoft Hires GUI 'Design Guru' 246
overpayd writes "ZDnet is reporting that Microsoft has hired 'user interface guru' Bill Buxton to work as a senior researcher. Will this move help focus the design teams for Vista, Office, etc? From the article: 'My sense is that Microsoft is in transition from an engineering-led company to as much a design-led company ... There are more designers at Microsoft on any single team as there were, not too long ago, in the entire company. It's a wonderful change.'"
bad slashdot! (Score:5, Informative)
slashdot misleads again.
he is not a GUI design guru, he is a human-machine interaction guru.
this article has no direct relation to GUIs.
i can handle the dupes, but it's very bad practice to post misleading information
(hint to Zonk: READ the article before posting).
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:5, Funny)
So he's an expert in robosex, eh?
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2)
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:5, Funny)
Thats it! Im catching the next Pimpmobile out of here!
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:5, Insightful)
Please put some thought into article summaries.
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2)
That's what I was thinking. Who hires the designer when you're in Beta? It would however be the right time to hire someone for the next version of the OS or Office suite.
Then again, maybe they have something else in mind, like something in the dgital hub arena.
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2)
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2)
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:5, Funny)
Well, then, Mr. Buxton, let me be the first person to welcome you to Apple.
(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2)
Quick, someone find 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino California using Google Earth and we might be able to see this guy's new office!
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2)
bad slashdotter (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree he should have read the article before posting, but it's also not correct to say he has no direct relation to GUIs. He speaks very much of design and how to make proper GUIs. In fact he actually teaches design at his university.
A big part of HCI is GUI design. How could it not be? After all how do most humans interact with computers?
To quote Bill Buxton:
"Not only should you get the design right, but more importantly, you should get the right design."
He is most certainly a guru of design, and that includes GUI.
Re:bad slashdotter (Score:2, Funny)
To quote Bill Buxton:
"Not only should you get the design right, but more importantly, you should get the right design."
Apparently he also speaks very much of clichés...
Re:bad slashdotter (Score:3, Insightful)
"It's now how the drapes are hung, it's why the drapes are hung."
That will prompt an OOOoooohhh from you and then bam, I'm an instant design genius and before you know it I'll have your house full of fushia Keith Haring prints and leopard skin throw rugs, laughing to myself at y
Riotous Assembly (Score:2)
Well worth a read, if you like to embarrass yourself by bursting out in uncontrollable laughter on a train/bus/whatever. And no, it's not an affiliate link or anything like that
Simon
Re:bad slashdotter (Score:2)
Wow, some visionary. (Score:2)
This is visionary? Sounds an awful lot like verification and validation to me.
Having worked in QA for 12 years, I would say that by today's software standards, that is visionary to some degree.
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2)
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2)
Yes, I was going to post the ubiquitous "Nothing to see here, move along..."
First, I doubt (hope) that there is not much that will be done to Longhorn's interface at this point. They have already done away with the the only reason that I have heard of to upgrade, WinFS.
Second, I have done a human-machine interaction stuff, and I think it is akin to interior decorating as compared to being an architect. Interior design is something that looks nice, but its fluff beyond that. Find me a remote control that
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2)
True, I don't know where that horrible analogy come from. Analogies always suck, and become the focus of discussion rather than the topic. Analogies are analogous to metaphors, maybe.
HCI is supposed to cover all the ways that you interact with your computer - keyboard shortcuts (and yes, that includes the idea of having the cut/copy/paste keys right next to each other - that happens *because* of HCI work, not in spite o
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2, Informative)
You've wandered away from the point. The use of the XCV keys for cut/copy/paste is an exampl
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course its all OT - the article isn't even about design in the typical sense (pixels on a page)...
Re:bad slashdot! (Score:2)
not sure what they'll do with Burton (Score:5, Insightful)
Okay, I'm done reading about three articles about Bill Buxton. Sounds like a bright and interesting guy.
Now, the litmus test, which Microsoft repeatedly fails, will be whether Microsoft cares or is willing to listen to this guy and his ideas. In my opinion, Microsoft's hiring of high-profile talents or personalities in the past has been more for:
The last great creative mind I remember at Microsoft was Nathan Myhrvold, and I can't remember any great contributions from him.
As for Burton's quote about the move and Microsoft:
Microsoft always has been and always be a Gates/Ballmer-led company, and that's not about engineering, and that's not about design. Waxing eloquent about his new employer is quaint, but Burton sheds no light on Microsoft's intentions or future directions. If history serves, no changes are in the offing.
This is news, but it isn't big news, and it isn't very interesting news.
Re:not sure what they'll do with Burton (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, MS is about competing. The means of competing is to let other companies prove the feasibility of something, then copying. MS is also about growth, which is very hard to come by in their traditional business areas.
Put these together, and it means they're looking for somebody to copy, somebody who has shown how to diversify to produce growth. It turns out that's somebody they've been watching for a long time: Apple.
Does it really matter? (Score:4, Insightful)
Let some other company do it and it will be lauded. Let some other company screw it up and it probably won't get posted or if it does a million bad examples superficially similar to something wrong Microsoft did will be used to excuse it.
Microsoft may be lead by certain people but most of their products do have that design by committee look. The one thing that makes OSS great can also make it aggravating and that is that a lot of it is created by individuals. Individuals don't always feel a need to compromise and that can lead to true innovation. Fortunately their screw ups are rarely noticed until they have gained name recognition. Multinational corporations don't have that ability anymore.
Look at this way, at least they are hiring people that are known quantities. From that we can at least deduce what they are trying to do or hope to do.
Re:not sure what they'll do with Burton (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, no. Microsoft used to be a Gates-Allen company, and it's arguable as to whether figureheads aside it was actually an Allen-Gates company. It used to be a lot better than it is now too. Sounds hard to believe I know, but in the late eighties some of us were actually rooting for Microsoft, not against.
Cheers,
Ian
Re:not sure what they'll do with Burton (Score:2)
This is news, but it isn't big news, and it isn't very interesting news.
Maybe, maybe not. Microsoft is facing considerable competition in many areas. Gates is at his best when under threat, and Microsoft has a pretty good track record with hardware. No doubt the success of the elegance of the i* designs has not been lost on Gates, Ballmer, Ozzie, either. Building interesting hardware to enhance the software offerings should help Microsoft maintain its customer base.
Re:not sure what they'll do with Burton (Score:2)
One could hope J Allard takes over the company at some point... Pragmatic, visionary, and picks a pretty decent design when you consider the Xbox360... Perhaps Allard could transition Microsoft into a company that makes quality products that are actually cool*... Maybe he better work on his chair-hurling techniques to ready himself for a management coup.
*and no, I am not
Re:not sure what they'll do with Burton (Score:2)
If history serves, no changes are in the offing.
Really. I've seen many things lately which indicate the contrary.
http://www.baychi.org/calendar/files/harris2005121 3/harris20051213.pdf [baychi.org]
Now if only (Score:3, Insightful)
For such a powerfull operating system it has a crippled userinterface.
Re:Now if only (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, I wouldn't say that ... [apple.com]
Re:Now if only (Score:3, Insightful)
This is where you differ from 99% of people. Most people would not define usability by the amount of customization that can be done. Most people want to just walk up to the computer, sit down, and *use* it. In their case, *using* a computer is about the application (email, Internet, printing pictures, etc) as opposed to customization and tinkering.
I happen to
Re:Now if only (Score:2)
I'm sure it's a great job, but sending in a few 'shiny' tugs is *not* going to change the direction of the 'Titanic'.
Who ar
Why now? (Score:2)
Re:Why now? (Score:2, Interesting)
Or at all? I've gotten used to MS' menu layout. As a matter of fact, when they change their own menu items between versions, I'm lost. And it really pisses me off!
I just think that humans are so adaptable that you could do anything and we would learn to deal with it. And if you consider MS' monopoly position, they could put the "File" options under "Help" and that would be the standard.
Re:Why now? (Score:2)
Re:Why now? (Score:2)
Re:Why now? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Why now? (Score:2)
I agree, he probably won't have a major impact on the Office 12 UIs. Probably a little too late in the game for that, unless they decide to do some radical changes to the UI.
Re:Why now? (Score:2)
Re:Why now? (Score:2)
Re:Why now? (Score:2)
to deny the use of him by the "enemy"...
More informative articles about Bill Buxton (Score:5, Informative)
This article (PC or people--who's the boss?) [com.com] has an interview with him today.
Bill Addresses his Microsoft transition on his home page: http://www.billbuxton.com/ [billbuxton.com]
He is cited in the Wikipedia article about Human-computer interaction. [wikipedia.org]
Re:More informative articles about Bill Buxton (Score:2, Insightful)
Only makes a difference if... (Score:3)
Very Interesting (Score:2)
Isn't this already the attitude Microsoft takes? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Isn't this already the attitude Microsoft takes (Score:3, Insightful)
Like being able to click on a filename in tile mode to initiate a rename action, but then having the filename move away from your mouse so when you click again to select the entry point, you deselect the filename.
Or how the only way to access the tile and cascade window functions of the OS is by right-clicking the taskbar, when half the users out there don't know the difference between right and left click.
Right, that Microsoft.
Re:Isn't this already the attitude Microsoft takes (Score:3, Insightful)
Can anyone translate this? (Score:2)
Exactly what does this mean? AFAIK, engineering IS designing. So what's the diff? What's he trying to say?
Re:Can anyone translate this? (Score:5, Insightful)
Design, on the other hand, extends engineering by trying to figure out the problem first.
For things like bridges, the problem is fairly self evident: There is a gap or chasm to cross. It is synonymous to design or engineer a bridge.
Airports, on the other hand, are much tougher problems to tackle. You don't engineer an airport, you design an airport.
Maybe a better way to put it is: Designers work around the requirements of people. Engineers work around the requirements of the problem.
If you have a designer involved, the engineers will have already taken into account the requirements of the people. If you don't have a designer around, then the engineers have to fake it and come up with ad hoc solutions to meet the unexpected needs of the people you are trying to help.
Re:Can anyone translate this? (Score:2)
Thanks - that makes a lot more sense.
Re:Can anyone translate this? (Score:2)
Re:Can anyone translate this? (Score:2)
You can have excellent design with no engineering, just as you can have lots of engineering effort without any design. The two are NOT synonymous behaviors, so they have separate words for each behavior.
If you want to conflate the two behaviors you can, but it isn't the default behavior.
Designers do not need to be engineers, though engineers need to be designers. The problem space is so large, however, t
Re:Can anyone translate this? (Score:2)
Re:Can anyone translate this? (Score:2)
Do you need an engineer to arrange a room to be optimal? If you do, you must have a bedroom inside a submarine.
On the other hand anyone/everyone can 'design' a room. For example some design constraints:
1) Don't block entrance and exit paths with furniture.
2) Imagine walking through the room in the dark and place furniture to not stub toes and shins
3) Imagine walking through the room during a power outage and place furniture appropriately, espe
Re:Can anyone translate this? (Score:2)
Ignorance can be corrected with a little bit of training.
Being an asshole, on the other hand... can that be fixed, or will you always be an asshole?
Re:Can anyone translate this? (Score:2)
Design led implies that The UI was designed first and then the underpinnings needed were put in. (Think MacOS)
Neither is better or worse than the other, both have led to some good and bad systems, though I lean towards design led as engineers tend to think along what's know, whereas designer's are usually ignorant of whats possib
Re:Can anyone translate this? (Score:2)
The Designer figures out what needs to be done (design specifications), the Engineer figures out how to make it happen.
At least that's how I see the distinction.
Re:Can anyone translate this? (Score:2)
Buxton's use of "design" as an alternative to "engineering" is a bit odd, unless he was mis-quoted or partially quoted But perhaps he meant specifically HCI design, at which engineers are sterotypically weak.
Design focus (Score:4, Funny)
Good. Now that they've got the engineering programs solved, having created what everyone agrees is the most solid and bug-free operating system on the market, they can start trying to catch up to Linux in ease-of-use and UI flashiness.
Re:Design focus (Score:2)
When did they become an engineering lead firm? I always thought the engineers took second place to profits and business leaders?
Re:Design focus (Score:2)
Oh, jeez... What else can he detect? (Score:2)
"And the answer to the question inside this envelope is 'Transit Strike'"
** rip **
"Why are ZDNet relying on second-string writer monkey rejects today?"
Re:Oh, jeez... What else can he detect? (Score:2)
a little late? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:a little late? (Score:2)
What should Free Software developers look at? (Score:2)
I do think we've been a bit long on the architecture, and not so much the design.
I'm obviously not going to become a good designer overnight, but is there something that I should be reading, or looking at?
Some suggestions: (Score:3, Insightful)
Donald Norma's "Design of Everyday Things" is an excellent book that will give you a new way of looking at problems. DOET is about non-software (doors, tekettles, etc.) but once you've read it, you will never look at the design of things in quite the same way.
These books aren't step-by-step directions on how to achieve good
Drat--Should'a previewed (Score:2)
Sheesh
Ion Storm... (Score:2)
I don't know if Microsoft products need better GUI people as much as architect and security people.
engineering-led!? (Score:2)
That would require them to somehow no longer be Microsoft as we know it in any way whatsoever.
Design (Score:3, Insightful)
I am growing increasingly weary of this attitude. Design is just as much an aspect of engineering as engineering is an aspect of design. A bunch of designers going willy-nilly with no handle on engineering is just as bad as a bunch of engineers doing the same thing to design. Human factors indeed.
Re:Design (Score:2)
Design sells.
CRT TVs and monitors are starting to look like something from the 50s.
I can't tell you how many of the newly designed Mustangs are in the parking lot, and a few of the classic ones. The ones from '79 or so though much of t
hmm.. (Score:2, Insightful)
My sense is that Microsoft was a Marketing company and is still a Marketing company
Correction: Microsoft is a Marketing-led Company (Score:2)
New York Yankees... (Score:2)
Didn't want to chat to a mere coder (Score:2)
Guess, what Bill - you might learn something by talking to us mortals.
Welcome to him, Microsoft.
Once more into the Event Horizon, dear friends ... (Score:2, Insightful)
Naahh (Score:2)
Explanation (Score:2)
Ref. [billbuxton.com]
MS LED BY ????? (Score:2)
Naw.... it has been from the beginning and always will be..... MS is led by Marketing!!!!
Whoops! (Score:2)
I'm not generally one to be dick about these kinds of things or so nit-picky, but if you're hailed as a major 'UI guru' and have Microsoft hire you and get a fucking mention on the old /. then please have a clue. Incidentally, I was always under the assumption is was important to
won't make a difference (Score:2)
Apple, in contrast, has hardly any world-class researchers working for them anymore, yet Apple products are consistently better than Microsoft's, in terms of GUI, interaction, an
Buxton quote (Score:3, Interesting)
(This was`a number of years ago.)
Bill was always great to work with -- I hope Microsoft treats him well, and I wish him the best.
Re:Hmm... (Score:3, Funny)
If it's people like you judging whether his website is hard to use or not then I wouldn't worry, cos if you can't find it WHEN THE LINK IS RIGHT THERE IN THE SLASHDOT SUMMARY then you have some inbuilt usability issues within yourself, and no amount of design is going to fix them
Re:Hmm... (Score:2, Funny)
I just assumed it was so good that I didn't understand it;-)
Re:KDE (Score:2)
Re:Great! Microsoft empire at last! (Score:2)
p.s.- poetry sucks
Non sequitur? (Score:2)
Re:Non sequitur? (Score:2)
Exactly where is the relation between human-computer interaction and HTML code compliance?
Actually, there is a big relationship between the two. Using standardized markup is a big focus for usability and human-computer interaction experts, because there is no way to be certain how a given human will want to experience information. Using standards allows screen readers, braille boards, vision impaired, and other interfaces to work properly. It also allows alternate input methods, not only for the impai
Re:His website (Score:2)
IOW the design is flawless, its the implementation that sucks.
Re:Design in GUI usually doesn't add anything (Score:2)
1) People buy shiny things. If you want to sell something it's a good idea to make it shiny.
2) Eye candy is value. I do much prefer to look at my extremely pretty - but at the same time very well designed - OS X desktop to Windows or Linux. Take the Fonts - is quadruple anti-aliasing eye candy? It looks about 1000 times better than ClearType and is easier to read.
Transparency effects don't add much value - but they do add a little bit.
Eye candy is not everything, nor perhaps the m
Re:XP is lipstick on a pig! No more Fisher Price!! (Score:2)
Really, what Microsoft needs to do is stop moving stuff around aimlessly, and choose some better colors for the default theme. For all the work I've seen them doing in the Vista beta versions, I have yet to see anything that really improves on the interface found in Windows 2000.