“I was at the Steve Jobs keynote. And like everyone else in that room, I was thrilled by the iPhone demo. The UI is spectacular, but for reasons you can’t see in a photograph, or get from the online keynote video. The best part of the iPhone is simply this: the UI is alive. By implementing one of the key principles of animation, the designers have shown us the stunning power of using Dog Ears as a user experience model,” Kathy Sierra writes for Creating Passionate Users.
Sierra writes, “In the real world, we have physics. We have inertia. Things bounce and stretch and squash. We have follow through. Imagine a dog with long floppy ears sprinting for a frisbee. Now picture the dog coming to a screeching halt in front of the disc. What happens to the ears? They keep going. Then they “bounce” back. And it’s a big part of what separates a good animator from an amateur.”
“Even if you don’t notice it consciously, an animation (even of just words) feels more appealing and alive when things move in the virtual world more like things do in the real world (or even more exaggerated). It feels more lyrical, fluid… less abrupt. And that is what the iPhone UI does,” Sierra writes.
Sierra writes, “Yes the touch-screen is cool. And the multi-touch gestures are so very minority-reportish. But it wasn’t the scrolling that made my jaw drop… it was what happened when the scrolling stopped: it bounced! The thing actually bounced if you flicked it hard and fast enough to send it flying up to the very (or bottom) of the list before it had a chance to slow down and stop. It actually bounced. And until you’ve seen it slow down and bounce, you haven’t felt that visceral, life-like, fluidity.”
Sierra writes, “Someone was quoted as saying, ‘You had me at scrolling.’ Well, for me it was, ‘You had me at what happened when the scrolling stopped.'”
Full article here.
Explaining something like this to the average Joe is like explaining the difference between Mac and Windows. They’ll typically sneer and/or discount it as unimportant, but it makes all the difference in the world. Apple’s attention to detail is a very important contributor to the success of their products and Kathy Sierra does an exemplary job of describing it in her full article.
CBS News takes a closer look at Apple’s iPhone:
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@ Just Unbelievable –
When the original telephone was invented, people scoffed at it, too. Don’t dismiss innovation so easily.
But when I drop my Zune, it bounces as you describe. So the Zune is just as good as the iPhone.
But you can also squirt with the Zune, so it’s better.
Welcome to my social.
I’m interested in how it will look in the sun… I like my razr, but it has shit for quality when you go out even in semi-direct sunlight… I hope this thing (esp at 600) has a decent display in bright light.
pr,
Dear God… get a life; StFU.
MaWo: ‘wish’. As in, “You wish the world was all ‘blue-jays & butterflys’… it’s not!
Get over it.
Fandango, did you actually read it? I’m thinking not…
Thanks pr, I enjoyed it
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mw: Sun–“The Sun will explode/Tomorrow/Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow/there’s no Sun…
iPhone technologu is amazing but this is only the beginning.
Look at this article on the multi-touch-sensing and be delighted.
Wouldn’t be great if future macs will embed this technology? Can you imagine the face of Windows user that are so proud of their <strike>aqua-copied</strike> aero interface?
Right on MDN! Finally you quote someone intelligent instead of from morons like Paul Turdrod, Rob Underle, Mike Melonhead Malone, Jon Dork, and a whole bunch of analysts freak. Stop quoting them so you don’t even have to use that “think before you click” thang!
To the person who asked about the brightness of the screen. From all of the comments from people who’ve handled it, it sounds like the screen is vivid and bright. It almost looks surreal in photos, given it’s brightness and clarity. Just think about some of those photos and video. When someone is holding a cellphone 10 feet away from you, at an oblique angle, can you see anything on it? Now look at some of the videos and photos that are on the web about the iPhone. It’s amazing that you can see the screen so well at such a distance.
“You had me at scrolling”
The new description of perfection.
Apple does it again.
Xisiqo – go screw yourself. A WINDOWS TROLL IF EVER I HEARD ONE.
It’s ALIIIIIVE!!!!!
> …rubber banding… More like a sports bra, which I consider to be almost a travesty, though I understand it’s necessary for some.
As for mirror neurons, we know they are responsible for porn. So when you see those dog ears going back and forth…you feel like barking too.
Like the way the second hand on the clock widget bounces as it comes to a stop with every tick – just like a real non-digital clock would.
And, Steve Jobs did show this off during the keynote. He even said something about it being like a rubber band, too.
Like I said Fandango… Think about your own behavior.
I’m looking forward to using one of these. It seems lickable. I’m hungry after swallowing my Shuffle.
In the UI world, the journey is the reward.
@Just Unbelievable: The Mona Lisa is just a painting! The Guggenheim Museum is just a building! Falling Water is <I>just a house<I>!