Killer feature of an apple tablet

Noticed this article today on macrumors.com

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/07/28/what-will-be-the-killer-feature-of-an-apple-tablet/

It asks what would be the killer feature of a tablet.

In my opinion it would be creating a device that:

• Is beautiful to watch movies on, in fact is beautiful to give presentations on.
• Turns music into an interactive platform you can not only listen to, but leverages the visual element to turn it into more than a music player, but a work of art.
• Is extremely portable, in every sense of the word. One device, one bag. No accessories that can be lost included.
• Turns typing and writing into a beautiful immersive experience again.
• Makes reading a joy also.
• Works.

I think the skeptical analysts in this article are looking for one 'sweetspot' in the design, but I believe (Apple employees correct me!) that Apple products are about creating a simple, elegant and engaging experience from end to end.

The iPhone never had a killer feature, or a killer app. What it did do was take preexisting techs, combine them in a relevant and logical way, then design and produce them at to high quality to make the senses tingle when using it.

Wireless charging?

To charge or not to charge?

Actually, when you think about the concept of plugging in anything with a cable it seems really archaic. In fact wall sockets really haven't changed for quite a long time, so why is this something we never address? Why is it immediately assumed that an electronic appliance HAS to be charged by plugging it into the socket in the wall and tethering your hard earned appliance, increasing the risk of accidental breakage.

If we can wirelessly transfer information from one point to another, surely we can transfer power in a similar way?

Think of it, a laptop that automatically can sense your wireless plug and charge when its in range!

No cables, no breaking, no panic to find the plug because you're battery is about to die!

Apparently its not too far-fetched at all:

http://www.infoworld.com/t/networking/wireless-charging-here-last-611

So, conclusion of the plug debate:

The laptop will now come with a nifty detachable wireless charger. Smoothly aligned with the rest of the laptop casing, simply depress like a button and it will pop out. By removing and plugging into the wall, the charger will immediately starts rejuvenating your laptop.

Not sure where you put the plug? A simple control on the laptop interface will request the charger sends out a noise so you can easily hunt it down and slide it back into your laptop.

Webcam placement

One thing I did not think about (till now) was that on the MacProTouch, there will need to be a place for a small webcam in the casing. It might make sense to put this on the side with the speakers but not sure. However I also don't want to sacrifice touchscreen size for the sake of the placement of one tiny cam.

Dilemma below:













Of course a webcam at the top facilitates vertical alignment (when laptop is in landscape mode, we have yet to see how the interface will be affected in portrait mode), but losing some of the convenience of having side grips to lift the laptop up.

Plug issues

As a matter of interest, why can't a laptop be plugged into a socket using a USB and an adapter? Anyone? Anyone? Seems pointless having a specific socket for power these days?

Just my two cents!

Some tweaks to yesterday's layout

One: I think leave the USBs to one side (the right side) of the laptop and put the power and headphone/mic jack to the other side. I thought of this because if i'm listening to music while navigating with a mouse it would be extremely annoying to accidently knock out the mic.

Two: Power and lock button should really be one button, a power (reboot) button which behaves similarly to the power button on an iphone. Press and hold to shut down. Press to start up. Press to put into sleep mode.
My original idea for a lock button was to prevent accidental touch interactions, but I think it defeats the purpose of a good interactive design, a design which knows when you mean a gesture and when one is unintended.

Laying out the hardware design

Started putting this together today. This really helps me get past the sketching stage as it makes the ideas more concrete and you can begin to see other requirements you may not have noticed before.

For example, a slope in the laptop side may cause issues with adding ports for DVI, Firewire etc. However, the fact that this laptop is not hinged, means all the room at the back of the MacProTouch (seriously, send in those naming suggestions :) ) allows the entire back to be used for ports! which is very handy.

It also means the majority of the ports you would use regularly in real life can be kept to the side (headphones, usb ports) while less obvious ports can be put to the back (Gigabit Ethernet port, for example, Ethernet cable). I rarely use my Ethernet cable these days, and when i do, i find it annoying to put it at the same side as say a mouse or another usb cable, so why not put it at the back where it is less likely to be intrusive or snagged on?

You will also notice I've put only one audio port for mic/headphones/speakers. I still don't understand why two ports are needed, so my suggestion is to create a custom designed headset that allows you to either: speak and listen, or stay on mute and listen. An application should be clever enough to pick up the requirements needed of such a device. Itunes: listen only, skype, listen and speak. Ability to mute should be a click away on the headset. I will have sketches for this later.

Power button and the ability to lock the laptop (more on this later) have also conveniently been put at the side, but not near the ports that would accidentally be touched.

Last but not least, the front of the MacProTouch will be predominately a touchscreen, apart from two minimal sidings which a. allow for audio output, b. allow the user to handle the laptop at the sides when lifting it, without interfering with the touch screen. Sensors will help indicate whether the laptop is being moved and prevent the touchscreen from reacting automatically too.

Next time: The microphone, and what the back of the MacProTouch will look like.

Sketching

Jotting down some sketches on the tube today. I thought about the plug earlier and I think that could be very simple for North America. The two prongs could be attached to a half cylinder which does two things: allows a flat magnetic edge to guide the prongs into the socket and easily attach/detach when someone snags on the cord. It also means when retracted into the laptop, the cylindrical shape allows it to quickly clip into the laptop, and rotate around so the plug is flush with the laptop base. I think having a cable for the plug similar to the tape measure allows for a few things: you can pull out as much as you need (rather than having a too short or too long cable). It also means storing the macpro touch (ok, thats MY name for it, anyone want a stab at it?) requires only one piece. You don't ever lose the plug, or forget it by accident.
Broken? A quick release under the laptop allows you to detach the entire plug mechanism and replace it.


As for the laptop casing itself i imagined a closed macbook air. A slight wedge shape to it allows the user to attach peripherals such as mouse, keyboard, headphone , mic etc (p.s. why are there always TWO sockets for this, i want to design a headphone piece that acts like a mic when needed or chosen) - we'll design this later.

The idea for the wedge also means that when you rest it on say a table, or your lap, there is a slight tilt to ensure the wrist are held in the right way as you type.

I also think another peripheral required is elevators (stilts) to increase this angle when using it for more intensive work (writing for hours e.g.)



NEXT: The laptop casing.

Note to self: need to take better photos with my iphone! hint hint.

First step: Hardware

To make life a little easier, I'm splitting up the design to start things off. Today, hardware.

What are some of the initial ideas that we could incorporate in the macbook pro touch casing?

Idea one: cables. It never made sense to me why a plug (a laptop is intermittently dependant on to run) is detachable from a laptop. What if you lose it? You have to buy a new one. Plus, those plugs take up room in your laptop bag, annoying.

So why not make it part of the casing? Like a retractable plug you see on vacuum cleaners?

Of course a couple of things would have to be done: The plug might have to be smaller (not an impossible thing with North American plugs, but UK plugs? forget about it.

Secondly what if it breaks? You're stuck with a expensive laptop that cant be charged? Or worse, you want to quickly unplug the laptop to go somewhere?

Well I think plugs go through enough wear and tear, i am constantly wrenching a plug out from the wall by the cable, not by the head of the plug (and yes i don't garden).

But wouldn't it be cool to have a clip on the retractable part that allows you to quickly detach the entire cable/plug effort?

So all you need to do is flick out the plug, and pull it out of the casing to use it. A lever recognises when you want to retract the plug like a tape measure.

If it breaks, the entire unit can be removed and replaced.

The plug could have a sensitive maglock that immediately disconnects from the unit, when somebody, say, accidentally trips on it.

Or even better, why not put a maglock on the plug itself? That way it can stay secure on the wall, but can be quickly removed when someone, like me, decides to pull it out using the cable.

Neat!

Day one design challenges

I'm currently working in London with a client and have the pleasure of taking the cramped tube first thing in morning and after work from canary wharf (which seems to be where everyone who works in the UK goes to). But, this gives me an hour a day to just think about my little side project.



While thinking about what a macbook pro touchscreen might look like, I decided there has to be no keyboard, and its display only. This presented two challenges.

1. Ergonomics. Ech. I thought about this while cramped between several people in the tube. I noticed: people under 5.6 are screwed to hold onto one of the handlebars above their heads, people over 6.3, forget about standing straight. People who are overweight, good luck sitting down. The study of ergonomics feels sometimes flawed to me because often the golden rules of ergonomics are based around a particular evolutionary point in humankind (yes, i did just say that), where people were shorter, thinner, more courteous/didn't stink of booze. This is why a mass transit system designed in the 1890s is hopelessly out of touch with the needs of a 2009 city.

So.......I'm ignoring golden rules of ergonomics for now, and focusing on people's behavior. How people use a laptop when they're sitting down (or stretched out on a sofa), where their cup of coffee is when they're writing, how graphic designers interact with photoshop when they need to type something in on a layer. All that stuff.

2. Where do i draw the line: the hardware? the OS? the software?
Honestly, I have no idea, once i started thinking about where a keyboard would go on a touchscreen, I began to think of the elevation of the hardware to decrease any potential wrist strain while typing. So my answer is for now: there is no line. If i treat the product as an entire experience between man and machine and try and answer any hardware/software problems that come out of that interaction, then I think that will help facilitate a good design even more.

Turrah for now, as they say in Blighty. Ok, I've never heard anyone say these things in the UK.

Aim of this blog : Hello Apple

Hi guys, this is a blog that will chart the design excercise I've set out for myself for the remainder of the summer:
to imagine the usability and interaction/product design of a netbook-come-touchscreen designed by Apple. This is purely a hypothetical piece but I think (hope!) it will make an interesting read for anyone who wants an insight into the design process and will go someway to explain why apple won't be using a giant touchscreen ipod wheel for their next laptop:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary

A little bit about me, and why I'm interested in doing this project:
I was born and raised in the countryside of Ireland, and studied industrial design at the national college of art and design, before moving to Milan to work as a product/furniture designer. However i always remember using Autocad and 3d studio and wondering: why the hell cant you apply good product design practices to software? And thats how i ended up working in user experience and interactive design for the past x amount of years. I currently specialise in large scale application design, and touchscreen application design and development.

I've been very fortunate to have worked and studied in Milan, London, NY and I currently live in Toronto, Canada, which is the weirdest city I've ever lived in. Kind of like NY if everyone who lived there came from Twin Peaks.

On a side note, I love movies, and just finished a course in screenwriting at UCLA. Why do I mention this? I think the combination of a passion for both drawing and writing will help inform me better in designing an intutive touchscreen interface that could faciliate both types of creativity.

I also admit to a certain talent for improvised comedy. I have no idea why i'm good at it, but i think it's because i can deliver any line in a funny sounding Irish accent. ;)

I hope this blog will focus my design skills for an apple product, give me some press (good press!) and who knows where it might lead? But mainly I think it will be a fun summer project for me to hone my passion.

So! here we go! please feel free to add as much feedback and design suggestions as you like.