At Barcelona - UX meets Code

Let's see what all we can accomplish here. Blogging with MaStory :)

Maemo 5 GUI Design Template (GUI PSD)

The Maemo 5 documentation now includes also the GUI Design Template, which allows one to create high-fidelity image mockups.

Currently the GUI Design template is available in Photoshop format that has a fairly comprehensive library of assets – all fully editable.

As is usual with these things, this is not something you'd use e.g. for wireframes or as a replacement for pen an paper. This is more useful for situations where pixel perfectness is needed.

Designing UI for Maemo 5 (Maemo Summit 2009)

I had a presentation in Maemo Summit 2009 about Designing UI for Maemo 5. The slides of the presentation are available in slideshare.

Abstract:
How to make the applications work together as an integrated whole?

This talk will discuss the UI Design of the Maemo 5 product as an "application portfolio". Design patterns as well as application specific designs are presented, and the reasoning for the design decisions.

Design of the pre-installed applications in the Maemo 5 product is discussed, highlighting the UI flows, common user experience solutions and power user features. Throughout the application walk-through, the structure and "look and feel" of the applications is categorized, resulting in a conceptual design tool for 3rd party application designers and developers.

N900 - Sounds fun! (updated)

So there's this nice device called N900. And a cool user interface video:


The song in that video is GRUM - Go Back (Le Castle Vania Remix), an energetic tune, freely downloadable from the net.

Lastly, here's a less than 30 second excerpt of that song, so that you could, for example, enjoy it in your cellular phone :)

Update: You can get another, more official N900 ringtone and message alert tone from links on Nokia Europe pages.

Equality

Bono, the rock-star in the band U2, sees the current world as suffering from an inequality of enormous scale - the Africans and other third world countries are severely disadvantaged and burdened by debts, diseases (such as AIDS) and lack of societal infrastructure. He argues that the Western world must help, because of their misbehavior in the history, and that they are not doing enough currently to make the situation better.

He also argues that many of the previous ways of help have been selfish or misguided, and that much bigger efforts need to be established now.

He says that the question is not about charity, it is about equality. Point is that if a western country or a part of a western country would be in same situation, the western world would correct the situation. But Africans are just silently ignored.

I hope I can also contribute to reduce this inequality between western world and third world. My approach is that of a researcher, not a rock star. I take small steps. I want to work towards a world where the ways of production are more equal towards all people. Where products and services are not one-sidedly defined and controlled by huge western companies. A world that perhaps behaves more like open source. An enriching culture.