A high level presentation on the future of interface design that includes a quick look at the history, the current state, and what questions we should look at when thinking about the future.

1. TECHLAUNCHER | MARCH 2018
The Future of Interface Design
Copyright © 2018 Todd Soulas. All rights reserved.

2. The User Interface (UI) is the dimension that lies
between humans and machines. It is the plane of
interaction between the operator and the device (or
software).
Alternatively put – the (UI) is the connection point
between your technical solution and the user – it is the
means by which you connect users to value.
The way that this has occurred has changed over time
as we shifted from a hardware focus to a mixture of
hardware and software.
We leapt from behind mechanical levers, into
pneumatic tubes and punch cards, to command line
interfaces, and landed in a sea of GUI.
The
point A User Interface connects users with the value
of your solution

3. Beyond the concept of UI itself there are two other important concepts to keep in mind when
designing technical solutions
User Interface Design
• User Interface Design is the intentional composition
of elements on a device in which a user interacts
with.
• The main considerations when designing for UI are
maximization of usability (the measurement of ease
and learnability of an interface) and user experience
(the user’s response to their interaction with the
interface).
• These concepts are important to keep in mind,
because machines are, in most cases (at present
anyway), made by people, for people.
Graphical User Interface
• A Graphical User Interface, or GUI, allows users to
interact with a computer through secondary
interactions, such as icons and input fields, as
opposed to learning command-line interfaces (CLIs),
which today we would call “coding”.
• This technology can be seen as a step change in the
history of human-machine interaction as it essentially
democratised access to computers.
• Whilst a GUI is still the dominant form of interaction
with computers this is changing – and those building
new technical solutions need to be aware of that.
Take
note

4. No matter how many features or how advanced and precise you want your solution to be
remember - bad UI can destroy lives
Please
no

5. Before you design - research what is out there, look at competitors, ‘Google it’, or do what I do
for almost everything, and go search ProductHunt (and sometimes Medium)
First
step

6. So
what?
The landscape
• Screens dominate our current approach to UI but
that is changing.
• ’Good’ companies are becoming more ‘design-led’
than ‘engineering-led’ and this applies in areas
outside of tech.
• On the precipice of an explosion in UI due to the
growth in platforms such as voice and AR/VR.
Tips for young players
• Good design is expected and there are a plethora of
tools to help you achieve this.
• There is a clear distinction between aesthetics and
good User Interface Design make sure you invest
your limited resources wisely.
• UI and UX are related but not the same. Each has a
special place in building great products.
As technology has advanced and many solutions have become commodity-like in nature there
has been a shift to highlight the importance of design

8. STRUCTURED
FIXED
CONSISTENT
OBVIOUS
DESIGNED
DYNAMIC
EVERYWHERE
BESPOKE
INVISIBLE
ORGANIC?

9. What’s
next? GUI democratised technology and shaped the direction of human-machine interaction for
decades – Voice User Interfaces can go further
What does tomorrow look like?
• Voice User Interfaces (VUI) are already here albeit in
primitive form.
• Human-machine interaction becoming ‘invisible’ due
to VUI and computer-brain interfaces but living on in
our minds.
• Will machine-machine interaction change in nature
to resemble human-machine interaction?
Why should you care?
• You need to consider if your technical solutions can
coexist with alternative UI concepts and multiple
points of interaction
• You need to think about how to design for user
interaction in a post GUI world.
• Understanding the possibilities of UI can unlock new
value propositions (consider VUI v GUI).

10. Todd Soulas
+61 404 047 844
twitter.com/toddsoulas
linkedin.com/in/toddsoulas
todd.soulas.au@gmail.com