Less is more (More or less

/1Anabridgedversionofthisarticleappearsis:Buxton,W.(2001).LessisMore(MoreorLess),inP.Denning(Ed.),TheInvisibleFuture:Theseamlessintegrationoftechnologyineverydaylife.NewYork:McGrawHill,145-179.LessisMore(MoreorLess)WilliamBuxtonBuxtonDesignToronto,[e-mail](Thefuturewasbetterinthepast,aswell.)KarlValentinAbstractInApril1981XeroxintroducedtheStar8010workstation,thefirstcommercialsystemwithaGraphicalUserInterface(GUI)andthefirsttousethe“desktop”metaphortoorganizeauser’sinteractionswiththecomputer.Despitetheperceptionofhugeprogress,fromtheperspectiveofdesignandusagemodels,therehasbeenpreciouslittleprogressintheinterveningyears.InthetraditionofRipvanWinkle,aMacintoshuserwhoawoketoday,afterhavingfallenasleepin1984,wouldhavenomoretroubleoperatinga“modern”PCthanoperatingamoderncar.The“desktop”isstillthedominantuserinterfaceparadigm.Equallydurableisthe“generalpurpose”natureofPCdesign,whichassumesthatwechannelallourtransactions(adiverselot)throughasingleinterfaceonasinglecomputer.Whilecommondiscourseaboutdigitalmediaisdominatedbytheconceptofconvergence,wearguethatfromtheperspectiveoftheusagemodel,justtheoppositeconcept,divergence,shouldbethedominantmodel.Wearguethatthediversityofwebbrowserstomorrowwillmatchthediversityof“inkbrowsers”(a.k.a.paper)today.Systemswillhavetobetailoredtodynamicallyconnecttheuserwithartefactsrelevanttotheuser'scurrentactions--anddosoinaway,form,place,andcostappropriatetotheuser.Thischangeisasinevitableasitisessential.Intheend,itwillleaveuswithnewconceptsofcomputers,communications,andcomputing--andofcomputerscienceitself.Fewcomputersciencedepartmentsorcomputerfirmsappreciatethemagnitudeoftheimpendingchange.Itistimeforthemtowakeup./2Introduction:RushingSlowlyintotheFutureAssomeoneintheprofessionofdesigningcomputersystems,Ihavetoconfesstobeingtornbetweentwoconflictingsentimentsconcerningtechnology.Oneisasenseofexcitementaboutitspotentialbenefitsandwhatmightbe.Theotherisasenseofdisappointment,borderingonembarrassment,atthestateofwhatis.Despitethehyperbolesurroundingnewmediaandtechnology,Ifirmlybelievethatwearefarbehindwherewemighthaveotherwisebeen,andthatoursocietyisallthepoorerasaconsequence.Furthermore,myviewisthatourcurrentpathhasverylittlehopeofgettingustowhereweshouldandcouldbeanytimesoon,therebyprolongingthemissedpotential.Forthistoalter,ourapproachhastochange.Despitetheincreasingrelianceontechnologyinoursociety,inmyview,thekeytodesigningadifferentfutureistofocuslessontechnologyandengineering,andfarmoreonthehumanitiesandthedesignarts.Thisisnotaparadox.Technologycertainlyisacatalystandwillplayanimportantroleinwhatistocome.However,thedeepissuesholdingbackprogressaremoresocialandbehaviouralthantechnological.Theskillsoftheengineeralonearesimplynotadequatetoanticipate,muchlessaddresstherelevantissuesfacingustoday.Hence,fieldssuchassociology,anthropology,psychologyandindustrialdesign,mustbeatleastequalpartnerswithengineeringandtechnologyinframinghowwethinkabout,designandmanageourfuture.Whilethegrowthoftechnologyiscertain,theinevitabilityofanyparticularfutureisnot.Likemathematics,perhapsweshouldstarttousethewordfutureintheplural,futures,inordertoreinforcethefactthatthereareanumberofdifferentfuturesthatmightbe.Thespecificfuturethatwebuild,therefore,willbemoreeasilyseentobeaconsequenceofourowndecisions,andwill,therefore,demandmoreconcernwithitsdesign.Whatfollowsisanattempttoestablishaconceptualframeworkfromwhichwecanbetterunderstandthepastandmakemoreinformeddecisionsaboutthefuture.DimensionsofChangeIhavebegunbyexpressingdisappointmentatthestateoftheart,andattheslowrateofprogress,inhumanterms,intheseemerginginformationtechnologiesandnewmedia.Figure1:TheXeroxStar8010Workstation.Introducedin1981.Thisisthefirstcommercialsystemtoutiliseawindows,icon,menus,pointer(WIMP),orgraphicaluserinterface(GUI)./3Butgiventhegeneralperceptionthattechnologyischangingatsuchabreakneckspeedthatevenexpertshavetroublekeepingup,howvalidisthesuggestionthatourprogressistooslow,andthatwecouldhavedonebetter?Italldependsonthedimensionalongwhichwemeasurechange.Whatistherelevantmetric?Intheareasofmicroelectronics,telecommunicationsandmaterialsscience,forexample,thereisnoquestionthattherehasbeenstaggeringchangeoverthepastfewdecades.Butifweshiftfromthedimensionoftechnologytothedimensionoftheuser,weseesomethingverydifferent.Despiteallofthetechnologicalchanges,Iwouldarguethattherehasbeennosignificantprogressintheconceptualdesignofthepersonalcomputersince1981.Tosupportthisclaim,lookatthecomputershowninthephotographinFigure1,whichdatesfromthatyear.Myexperienceisthatmostcomputerusers,includingprofessionals,cannotidentifythedecade,muchlesstheyear,inwhichthephotographwastaken!Forhowmanyotherfastchangingproductsisthattrue?ThecomputershownisaXeroxStar8010workstation(Smith,Irby,Kimball,Verplank&Harslem,1983).Itincorporatedallofthedesignanduserinterfacecharacteristicsofacontemporarypersonalcomputer:windows,icons,amouse,andCRT1.Infact,thereisanargumenttobemadethatthis1981m