Radio Buttons Create "Save"
Where did the idea of "saving" arrive in technology? Would you believe... within radio buttons?
History of the Button
From cameras and flashlights to the digital explosion of today, buttons are how we interact with technology.
Latest posts
And we are back!
The History of the Button is returning. After a seventeen year hiatus, it's time to retell the story, only better. From cameras and flashlights to the digital explosion of today. What's happening now?
Evolution of Symbols @CyborgCamp
Last weekend, I attended and spoke at CyborgCamp. It was a helluva thing. It’s incredibly energizing to get a bunch of smart and thoughtful people in a room together for a day to talk about the intertwinement between people and technology. Ward Cunningham was a
Pinball and bowling alleys and flow
Recently, I played pinball and went bowling in the same week. The two games will always be linked together for me because that’s where I first really experienced interaction design: the bowling alley. I enjoy saying that I grew up in a bowling alley. There’s tiny
The Bird's Nest moment
My mind is blown. Your mind is blown. Anybody who watched the Opening Ceremony at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics had their mind blown. Spectacular. Big. Incredible. Historical. No verbs can be found. I’d go as far to say that this was the most incredible experience ever designed.
1887: Pushbuttons in the Times archive
The Times (London, not New York) has recently opened its entire archives from 1785-1985 to the public, an incredible trove of history. So naturally, I search for “push-button”, since “button” returns too many bits about clothing. The first mention of “push-
Blow Hard: best control ever?
This may possibly be the most amazing control in the history of controls. Found by a friend on a hotel air conditioner. There are clearly only two options, blow hard or blow harder. Otherwise, just stop. Of course, the usual method for designing an air speed control is a range
Language of Interaction (from Interaction08)
For my talk at Interaction08, I published a paper to accompany the talk, and then hosted it at a separate site. I’d like to bring it into here, continuing the theme of bringing everything under one roof. Enjoy! Abstract We are interaction designers during a time of
Interaction08: Wow, what a weekend
Interaction08 ended a few days ago and I’m still recovering from the firehose of information, inspiration, community and general yay, not to mention the excess of fried food and meats and the dearth of sleep. This was no question the best professional conference I have ever attended.
1957: "Push de button"
Yet more clues of seeing how the button was incorporated into the culture. Check out these lyrics from “Push de Button” from the Broadway musical “Jamaica,” by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. 1957. Sung by Lena Horne. Push de button, Up de elevator, Push de button,
Mr. Rogers learns about Donkey Kong
This video is beautiful. Mr. Rogers learns how to play Donkey Kong from a little kid. It gets even better when the vending machine guy comes to collect all the coins. He even opens up the machine to show how the buttons work. First aired in 1983. The golden quotes:
History of ABXY
Following up from my post on the  LodgeNet game controller  with the bizarro ABXY labeling, here is a history of the ABXY controller layout, from  ABXY.org . From the article: For the origins of the ABXY button scheme we must look back to the very beginning
Slow down and think it through
How easy is it to overthink a design solution? Quite easy. Slow down and think it through. Just remember ABXY. As we’ve covered before with  alarm clocks , technology found in hotel rooms is often poorly designed, likely purchased from the cheapest possible source. They buy cheap, they
King Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Last Friday, we went to see King of Kong, A Fistful of Quarters, a brilliant documentary about two guys battling for the world record at Donkey Kong. At the simplest, it’s a classic Good vs. Evil story. The characters are stunning. They’re real people. Determination.
Lessons from a hotel alarm clock
During my talk at UX Week last week, I picked on the alarm clock in my hotel room. Technology found in hotel rooms is notoriously poorly designed. Why? Too cheap to buy the good stuff? For example, here is where you set the alarm type, on the side