Note-taking for User Experience Design with June Ahn Don Norman discusses affordances and constraints in The Design of Everyday Things, Chapter Four: Knowing What To Do. User experience design is easy in situations where there’s only one thing that the user can possibly do. But as the possibilities multiply, so do the challenges. We can deal with …
Tag Archives: skeuomorphism
The great music interface metaphor shift
I’m working on a long paper right now with my colleague at Montclair State University, Adam Bell. (Update: here’s the paper.) The premise is this: In the past, metaphors came from hardware, which software emulated. In the future, metaphors will come from software, which hardware will emulate. The first generation of digital audio workstations have …
User Interface Design for Music Learning Software
Computers have revolutionized the composition, production and recording of music. However, they have not yet revolutionized music education. While a great deal of educational software exists, it mostly follows traditional teaching paradigms, offering ear training, flash cards and the like. Meanwhile, nearly all popular music is produced in part or in whole with software, yet …
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User interface case study: Propellerheads Figure
As I contemplate my masters thesis, I’m looking for good examples of beginner-centric musical user interface design. Propellerhead’s new Figure app has been a source of inspiration for me. It’s mostly wonderful, and even its design flaws are instructive. I have a long history with Propellerhead’s software, beginning with Rebirth in 1998. I’ve made a …
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