Reading on 3D desktop design

Principle used:

• Feedback & communication:

Feedback involves keeping users informed about what's happening by providing appropriate feedback & enabling communication with your app.
Two examples using in the work:
1. When a user clicks to the book, it shows visually that tell user the book has selected.
2. When a user clicks page by page on the right side, the book will response as thin to thick (left pages to right one)

• Perceived stability:

To provide an understandable, familiar, and predictable environment. To give users a visual sense of stability, the interface defines many standard graphical elements.
Some examples using in the work:
menu bar, search box, book outlook

• Metaphors:

Use metaphors that represent concrete, familiar ideas, and make the metaphors obvious, so that users can apply a set of expectations to the computer environment.
Examples using in the work:
the book design, the way to note/tag

Criteria & Evaluation:

• Suit for the 3D desktop environment
• Bring enjoyment
• Easy to use
• Clear / simple of all functions
• Visual appeal

Design a pop-up window

It's transparent. why?

The size?

The way of layout?

Principles:

• Make the pop-up window transparent so the visitor can still view the text on the page behind it.
• Text on the pop-up window should be readable and legible.
• Help the window stand out from the background, but different from formal access.
• Flexible size setting, but the window size is never more than 1460*740 px set to 1600*900 resolution.
• Layout: arrange text & graphic in logical order / where you place that element depends on it's relationship to the other pieces.
• Grid-based design
• Simplicity: only show the necessary information.

Criteria & Evaluation:

• Achieve the communication task: Quickly have a glance and get the mainly infos and decide if read or not.
• Text & background: achieve readability and legibility.
• Simplified: only show the useful infos

Book preview on 3D desktop

On 2D desktop, documents placed in the way that parallel with the desktop, while on 3D desktop they placed random and mostly will in a slanted status.

What would the slanted document display when click it to preview?

Principles:

• Put the user in control:

A user should not always feel in control, able to do what they want when they want. (the process of desktop status changed should not be noticed)

• Keep the user in informed

(A user would understand the change)

tech: keep the right way to the target document

normal display

on the basis of the way book's placement,
the desktop would in a rotation status.

Book manipulate on 3D desktop

As my earlier article BumpTop 3D desktop showed the video about BumpTop for Mac. It introduced some tech about desktop items manipulation.

I presumed if it goes to use in books, what the result will be.

Possibly they will be in this way:

Design a search box for online book reading

According to my work, I need a search box that allow people search on both the book contents and the note they had made. It seems an advanced search box may be more suitable. That was my oringinal thought.
I changed my mind when I got the principle said “A search box should be simple”, which mean advanced search is advanced, and users gel confused tring to use it. It is more user-friendly to have no advanced search options displayed by default.
Therefore, how do you use the simple search box to tackle this issue. My way is make the title of the search box as clear as possible, just show what they can do, and leave others to the computer. Like type “Keywords and sentence” to get the book page or note where show the related words.

idea/sketch/analyze/develop

principles check

Take the principles to check the temporarily result:
•Name on submit button can be capital letter or search icon or an arrow.
"search" is better than "find", "go'.
•The optimal position for section titles is the upper-left area above the search box.
•Text displayed in the input field should easy to read.
•Input fied length should be appropriate.
•The search fit the website's overall design perfectly yet manage to stand out slightly when users need it.
•The submit button is a button, it should be designed like on, and look different than input field.

Which book display version do you like more?

 Option1

Option2

Criteria & Evaluation:

• Easy to distinguish (choose1)
• Identification (2>1, book cover is an icon as itself)
• Distinguish it from other document such as PDF, WORD. It is a specific app. (choose 1)

New media and technology brief

Will 3-dimensional desktop be a trend? BumpTop had brought lots fun for users though it is not available for the moment. Imaging what if the 3D desktop lead the trend again, what would it affect reading experience? Is it change the way we read on line? what need to be reconsidered? What could we do more when reading a book and what features would remain?

BumpTop 3D desktop

BumpTop has been acquired by Google. It will no longer be available fore sale. It is still unknown what Google has planned for the software.