Why interfaces matter

As the point of communication between the human and the computer, human-computer interfaces are fundamental to the way we perceive and engage with the world of information. Web sites and apps have been the focus of innovation for the past 40 years. So you might forget that the container for websites, apps, and documents - the interface of the operating system - also provides a space for design. This is the design space of Enai.

What is the real character of computer interfaces, which have become so important in shaping our world? In general, interfaces are thought of as being things that are interacted with, or “used,” by people. The reality is a little more complicated.

As McLuhan says, the medium is the message. In other words, content matters - but the context and character of the content matters more. The environment we exist in determines our physical and cognitive state. Humanity has always been defined by the media we use to perceive and make sense of the world. Spoken word, written word, linear time, moving images… But computers are different than text, sound, and image based media. They provide a dynamic, interactive medium that's shaped by the implicit or explicit choices of their designers. And one in which we spend more and more of our lives. We can shape computer interfaces so they shape us into the kind of people we want to become. But we have to choose to do so consciously.

We might think of people as an integrated whole of body and mind. Similarly, we might think of computers as an integrated whole of their networks, software, and hardware. We live together to form a globally connected cognitive environment. The interface exists in the space between people and computers, a two way relationship. People design computers and influence the way computers develop - intentionally or unintentionally. Similarly, these interactions with computers influence the way humanity thinks, moves in the world, and develops as a species. The fact that the interface exists between the human and computer speaks to the importance of thoughtfulness in designing that relationship, a key part of the space of cognition and the future of human and computer intelligence.

Does our digital media environment support human thriving?

Anyone can notice the tedious manual organization of individual items on computers, the mess of browser tabs and downloads people live in every day. The negative implications for attention, productivity, and clarity of thought are clear. My apartment is clean but my computer is a mess. It doesn’t need to be this way! It shouldn’t be this way! A different future is possible.

Throughout the history of Interaction Design, its pioneers - Vannevar Bush, JCR Licklider, Douglas Engelbart, Alan Kay, and others - led with ideas. They developed a vision for how computers and humans could work together, then technology was shaped to achieve that vision. Engelbart’s 1968 NLS prototype, for example, was preceded in 1962 by a 144 page essay called Augmenting Human Intellect in which Engelbart made clear the social outcomes his work was seeking. They took a thoughtful, idealistic approach to technology in which sophisticated and powerful methods for managing complex information so people can think clearly are envisioned, then software and hardware are shaped to realize that vision. 

This approach is more than thoughtful and idealistic - it was more innovative and productive than the incrementalist ways of thinking that followed it. The past three decades of designers and developers can be forgiven for standing on the shoulders of giants to build amazing products like Excel, Google Maps, Runway, Perplexity. There was a lot of work to be done.

And yet we have been daisy chaining new technologies and application interfaces on to one another within the same basic interface layer that was designed at PARC decades ago. It has gone on too long, and we all see the results. It’s time to embrace basic, thoughtful, and idealistic thinking about computer interfaces not just as individual apps, but as holistic systems we rely on for thinking. As Bush, Engelbart, Kay, and others observed - the effectiveness of our interfaces will be a key determining factor in the continued success of this beautiful, complex, information society that we have built.