Itsme: Beyond the desktop metaphor
Itsme is the name of an ambitious project taking place in Milan, Italy. The intent of the project is to design a new workstation based on an open source OS and a new metaphor, both to improve the organization and the interaction with personal content.
In the last 25 years there has been very little innovation in personal computing:
- The desktop metaphor has established as the standard user interface but reflects the complexity of the human activities without helping people to manage it.
- The complexity of the systems we interact with has increased.
- The analogy with the physical world is not sufficient to manage and support the emerging needs and communication channels we experience in our daily use of computers.
It is not only possible, but is required nowadays to rethink and go beyond the desktop by introducing what we call “Stories and Venues” metaphor.
The presentation will describe:
- Context analysis: the presentation will contextualize the innovation potential of Itsme and the “stories and venues” metaphor with reference to the traditional OS, up to the description of the basic conceptual aspects of Itsme.
- Design issues: moving from the visual model that represents Itsme, it will describe the structure and articulation of the interface as well as the nature and behaviour of the interactive elements, how items are manipulated by user at interface level and the overall look and feel.
- Interaction design process: A highly iterative process that alternates activities dedicated to research and investigation, sedimentation, assessment trough participatory process.