Good Design 9: Ubuntu

 

I am PC user and love Windows 7, but from time to time I’ll try out other operating systems. One of these occasionally used operating systems is Linux Ubuntu.  It is just surprising that more people including myself are not using Ubuntu when it is such a good operating system. Is it because it’s free? Do we like knowing that the operating system running on our computers cost us something?

Despite its lack of popularity when compared to Windows and Mac, Ubuntu has some great design aspects which I believe classes it together with these giants.

1. It is open source and is therefore free to everyone
2. Ubuntu has a beautiful user interface and aesthetics does make an object more acceptable to users
3. I can decide to install Ubuntu to my computer or just boot and run it from my thumb drive. Windows can be installed from a thumb drive, but I don’t think we can run Windows from a thumb drive. It is another story with Mac.
4. Having the ability to boot Ubuntu from your thumb drive and run it from any machine makes it truly portable. This allows individuals to carry their favorite programs with them anywhere they go
5. Ubuntu comes with lots of useful prebuilt programs and tools, thus making using the operating system a lot easier
6. The programs and tools provided for Ubuntu are also free, therefore this gives everyone the opportunity to use the best technologies
7. Ubuntu has  a great community who is always there to help with technical problems
8. Ubuntu is not intensive on system resources such as memory and hard drive space. In fact Ubuntu can be installed and run from a 1GB thumb drive
9. The system responds very quickly
10. Ubuntu does not throw error dialogs at users as we have in windows, well the older versions

 

Overall, I believe that Ubuntu is a great operating system, with design features to give users a pleasant experience when using the system.

Photo: http://www.computerandyou.net/category/linux-open-source/ubuntu/

Great Design 7: Windows 7

I may be late doing this, seeing that Windows 8 beta is already out, but I’ve got to give a review of my favorite operating system: Windows 7. I made the jump from Windows XP to Windows 7 not even looking below me to see whether I had trodden over Windows Vista in the process. I never liked Windows Vista in the first place because it was too greedy and hogged up all my systems resources.

I don’t want to be biased here, but if you searching for software with good design, please do not look for Windows 7. If you need great design, then I will recommend you to take a look and marvel at Windows 7. Everyone, well mostly everyone who uses Windows 7 will say that it well-designed software. So much that many Mac users have also jumped to the Windows 7 platform. So what qualifies the windows 7 platform as great design?

• First and foremost is its ease-of-use. If people are going to use a product then it has to be easy to use and Windows 7 definitely fits this criteria.
• I strongly believe in the aesthetical aspect of a product because I believe it makes users more acceptable of the system. We can all admit that Windows 7 is an absolutely gorgeous operating system. It contains a beautiful user interface with semitransparent task bar and start menu, and people usually love transparency.
• Individuals multitask all the time and Microsoft has made this simpler for users in Windows 7 by allowing users to divide their screens easily. Gone are the days when I had to manually resize my applications in order to view two of them on the screen simultaneously. In Windows 7 users can simply drag their applications to the left or right of the screen and it would automatically resize itself to half the screen area.
• There is also a feature which is very useful when my desktop is too cluttered with applications. I can just click on my desired application, shake it vigorously and all other applications would be automatically minimized to the task bar. Shaking the application again will bring them back to their respective positions.
• I also love the level of personalization options that are offered to users in Windows 7. I spoke about the semitransparent taskbar and start menu in Windows 7, but if the user prefers the menus to be opaque, then the option is theirs. This is just one of the many personalization options.
• On the technical side, the Control Panel has been redesigned to the basics features that users need to manage the operating system.
• The system is a lot faster and does not use up as much resources as it predecessor.

Even though most people may not even notice these things anymore since they have gotten accustomed to them, I think that these things together make up for windows 7 as a well-designed operating system.

Good Design 6: YouVersion Live

The YouVersion Bible App is possible the best app I’ve ever download from the iTunes store. The 14,229 customer reviews and 22,493 five Star ratings of this app gives you an idea of how popular it is. Majority of individuals commenting on this app describes it as a perfect app. Well I don’t think it’s perfect because it contains some disappointing features, but overall I think it is an absolutely amazing app. The designers of this app have provided all the features an individual using this bible app would need at their disposal and have ensure that the app help users meet their goals.

Let’s take a look at some of the features making this app so incredible.

1. Most importantly the YouVersion Bible App is easy to use, has a friendly interface with easy navigation,  and uses good neutral colors
2. Contain all the major bible versions that people use regularly
3. The most important feature of this app is the ease and speed at which it allows me to find a bible text or scripture. In some bible apps, users are forced to go back sequentially: from verse – chapter – book – contents in order to find a new text. I usually find this very time consuming and frustrating. The YouVersion Bible App allows the user to move in any order, which makes navigating the bible much quicker.
4. The YouVersion Bible App provides the bible in both the written and spoken word, which makes it more useful. Want to read the bible while driving or jogging, then simply listen to it.
5. Most people enjoy taking notes and bookmarking their pages while reading their bible and the designers of the YouVersion Bible App have provided them these features.
6. There is also a search feature which allows users to find a text or scripture they desire. This comes particularly handy when I remember only part of the scripture text and need to reference it.

An app with such a user centered design approach can only be regarded as great designed.

P.S I have been using the spoken word provided through the YouVersion Bible App for my bible bed time stories many nights before I go to bed.

Good design/bad design

Source:
Nielsen, J. (n.d. b). Ten usability heuristics. useit.com: Jakob Nielsen’s website.
Retrieved October, 2011, from http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html.

 

I don’t believe I will go on a ledge to say that most people will unreservedly agree with me that Microsoft Office is one software package with a great design. Due to the stardom success of the software it seems likely that the design team places a great deal of effort in usability research before creating any new version of the software. Today I just want to take a brief look at Microsoft Office and highlight some of the features which I think contribute to its great design. To achieve this I will use some usability heuristics as outlined by Nielsen though I may fall short of a trustworthy evaluation since a good heuristic evaluation requires at least three people.

Visibility of system status
I think that Microsoft has done a brilliant job in highlighting to users exactly where they are at all times. By looking at the tabs, a user can easily know whether he is on the home tab or on page layout.

Consistency and standardsIn my opinion Microsoft has established the standard for document editing software. In terms of consistency, in office 2007 the location of the file tab was changed, which at first made it difficult for some users to save their documents. In Office 2010 they have brought back the much desired file tab.

Help and documentation
 If you need some help just go to the file tab to access the help menu.

User control and freedom
Existing MS Office is as easy as clicking the red x button in the corner or clicking the file tab and selecting the exit button in the menu.

Aesthetic and minimalist design
This has been achieved by the use of butcons, combutcons, latching butcon ect

These are just a few of the heuristics I used to evaluate MS Office and from the results I can confidently say that they characterize software with great design.