I've been thinking about how we, engineers and computer related people, design products and software. Usually we have what we think are great ideas, we tend to create create a kind of business strategy and then start developing. Usually, when things has gone this far we almost have a prototype or design to show off and start a process to enhance interaction and improve usability. In terms of thinking about a new product (let it be software, a book, a drawing or anything we can create) we should always think on the users and how will they really be using product. It's not only much smarter than simply adapting users to the product, it's a matter of simplifying the experience so learning is not required to use it.
On this topic, we have been using metaphors to avoid re-learning but sometimes the metaphors we choose don't aim for simplicity, like the famous turning pages in some flash applications. Ok, a book is a good metaphor to show how can you turn over pages and go forward and backwards in a document, but it's useful only if you have a physical book but more than annoying when used on a screen without touching interfaces.
During a press conference by Microsoft, yesterday, at E3 in Los Angeles they announced a completed redesign of the Xbox 360 user interface... and woooowwww-phiiiu, it's been revamped a lot, but not only regarding graphic design. They have completely redesigned the user interaction with the console and targeted their users from a real User Perspective.
Just to see it in images, this is how I see the improvements on the new interface and the associated interactions:
The actual user interface and experience requires some knowledge about gaming, downloading, navigating pages, videos, setting up the gears, etc... it's not hard, most gamers have this knowledge, but the Xbox is moving into a new era, becoming a Media Server and Home Entertainment System, so it has to become simpler and more intuitive for other family members. So there they go!
Know this is simple. Simplifying design, more readable, easier to use... but as with simpler things, not everybody likes it. In fact, nobody likes it, and with nobody I mean hardcore gamers or advanced users. But with this new interaction Microsoft is setting up a community around Xbox, integrating it with Netflix and media, allowing you to communicate with your friends and interact with your media elements in a much more intuitive and clear way. One more shot to see how to interact with profiles and friends around you, creating communities and social interaction within the console.
Kind of Wii-like-avatars, more up-to-the-family so it can perform as a better integrator device. With this new visualization you can select among different avatars (former profiles) and see who's online with a complete set of personalization for everyone's alter-ego. And what about navigating through games? It has also been simplified, no more lists, no more computer-like scrolling, just a simpler 3D interface.
I personally think that this is great demonstration on how to think from an user perspective when designing or redesigning a product. Sometimes we have to rethink everything and throw the previous version to the trash-bin, but it's for the sake of our users: they are everything, how does it helps to have the best product in the world if nobody wants to use it? And here you can see an small video with the new features and how the work:
By the way, the work done by the guys at Redmond has been centered in re-designing interactions and presentation, I'm almost sure than most of the system functional specifications still the same: games played, live, scores, points, configuration settings, videos, downloads and more. The fact is just thinking about new ways of doing the same thing from a different perspective.
Have in mind that simplicity is not about removing things, there are things that can't be removed, it's more about how to present them so they are just in the right context and quantity to seem less and simpler. You know, less is more!