Designed interface should directly communicate to the user in the same way that signage at an airport and on public transport is clear, easy and helpful. Signage always communicates the full message in the shortest amount of time, sometimes sacrificing artistic detail to maintain only the absolute necessities. Often such a rigid approach leaves the financial world as being cold and unpersonable. The main consideration here should be in accurately separating what is the interface upon which the user wholly depends and what are in fact designated points for more human and natural customer communications.

Financial interfaces of the past would display monochromatic (two colour), standard mono-spaced fonts in much the same way as a calculator or typewriter with little care given to the way in which the aesthetic look is presented and how the language is delivered. Today of course banks are as much a branded institution conveying their own character, warmth and personality to their customers as any other business with care given to every word, every character and every message that leaves their door.

A healthy online experience must include to the finest detail, just as much care as exists within any other communications channel in employment by the bank. In addition to this, the online canvas poses a few more constraints as well as flexible parts that must be considered and molded to the user’s advantage.

Web pages provide a limited (and varying) screen space for laying out financial tools, customer communications and branded messages. Though it is also a flexible screen space upon which there is room for dynamic elements that may convey via finely laid out typography, image, video, forms and interactive elements, which are all fine advancements that should be utilized. Although unlike outdoor print media or linear TV – online’s broad flexibility will often also lead to experiences that may also disorient users – objects that shift and change, pages that refresh and points of reference remain inconsistent.

Today we have at our disposal the ability to finely tune the experience to each user personally, placing control in their hands and the ability to grow their own knowledge and ability to operate successfully. It is expected and required, more so than ever with personal finance.

All of this is key to a successful and dependable experience.

The challenge remains with the careful balance between the considerations of the content, its aesthetic, the manner of delivery, its contextual applicability and the user’s need. We believe in dependable interfaces that do not confuse, navigation that is simple and display space that is flexible, avoiding incessant page refreshing, and catered personally to each user in a way that is both secure and accessible.

The year beganwith announcements from Apple for their iPhone garnering the usual following and press coverage along with numerous unveilings from every other corner of the tech industry. In fact according to the Keller Fay Group and Nielson BuzzMetrics, the Apple iPhone was mentioned up to nine times for every mention of George Bush across the internet for over ten days following its announcement.

Today the planet is literally covered with screen devices from the very visible and common home screens – TVs, plasmas, computer LCDs; to screens on-the-go – phones, ipods, psps, portable video players, screens on trains, planes and cars; as well as display advertising everywhere – shops, stations, stadiums, outdoor. We can’t escape them and most of us spend the larger part of our lives using them. Designing interfaces for screen devices that appear almost anywhere, fulfilling numerous purposes at the same time provides an almost universal and growing need for increasingly simple and natural ways of interaction that are forgiving and accommodating of anyone who may use them, in anyway they want.

Just getting past the post-New Year’s slumber, Lorenzo spotted LG’s Prada touch screen phone, ready to ship with an interface modeled in Flash. Late last year Elmer previewed a similar Flash menu running on his own Nokia. Designing interfaces with Flash for handheld devices will take us out of the dark ages in on-screen interfaces, historically – just image buttons changing state and calling up lists of further actions. Flash gives designers control over interfaces that offer the user flow and natural organic transitions between states. It puts the design back with the designers and liberates us from stuttering screen interfaces that have been co-opted by hardware limitations and telecom companies (who still don’t get the internet).

Last week I was invited to deliver a course titled ‘Design for Screen’ at the University of Westminster’s ‘BA (Hons) Contemporary Media Practice’ degree program in Harrow. Lecturing over two days to second-year students, we began with a morning of how to gatecrash a job in the industry, playing to our strengths and being passionate about what we love in our work, my own journey from uni to Holler, as well as showcasing some key Holler projects and a sneak peak at some new stuff, not yet seen. We swim within a diverse industry delivering communications and media to every segment of the world. Even an equally diverse body of students made up of film makers, writers, illustrators, and media designers who are rooted within the practice of developing well founded concept and evolving thought process, are not made fully aware of the scale and scope that their talent applies to, and thats exciting.

Design for screen is in itself just as diverse. During the first workshop the students were given sheets of paper and asked to fold them down to size appropriate to the screen they would design. Working in small groups they discussed the how, where and who of each device and put to paper designs that ranged from interactive DVR cinema, exhibit consoles and children’s bubbly touch-screen TV to a pictographic-mobile interface, immersive goggles and a dreamcatcher concept of a ceiling mounted touch-screen device to capture and categorize the quickly disappearing fragments of last night’s dream. I was generally impressed with the unanimous adoption of touch-screen interfaces throughout, but even more so with their embrace of simple finger point-and-drag interactions and the ease with which they took it for granted. And rightly so.

The students really brought it home as they naturally made intuitive choices in how we interact with screens, relate and experience them. They demonstrated scalable design ideas with simple transparent navigation. Day two and we were taking our paper-based designs to the screen. I delivered a basic Photoshop masterclass – preparing our digital canvas and covering technical basics that would allow us to get on with the creative design. The students were given the chance to present their work, field any questions or insights and above all, get a real good feeling for the industry they will become a part of: a media golden age passing just beneath our finger tips.

If you are a designer studying today, there is no doubt that you will graduate into the humble dawn of universal, simple and tangible touch screen interfaces (verbal interaction included of course). We talk of convergence and ubiquitous connections between all devices through any medium, but the real experience will connect with the user only through a fundamental rebirth of the interface. We’ve all seen the stunning TED talks multi-touch screen presentation of February 2006, and perhaps you’ve also followed Prada’s Magic Mirror of a few years ago in New York. And what of HP’s ‘Making the computer personal again‘ TV ads or more recently (January 18th) – Nokia’s quietly released concept films titled ‘A view to the future‘. The last two are pure gold.

Let’s think natural, non-intrusive and extremely responsive intelligent design. Multi-touch has enormous potential and along with voice interaction will revolutionize and simplify the way we do almost anything. Its essentially back to the basics, and thats a good thing for all users. Today we use back-lit displays, electronic paper is not far off, and 3D holographics may soon emerge out of deep-end development and into our own day-to-day lives.

Think human to human point and touch simple experiences that assist rather than get in the way. Think as far ahead as Star Wars tri-corders. And I think we’ll see them in the next 10 to 15 years.

The concept that all your stuff is stored online, accessible anywhere, tapping into the online platform and fleet of software (with public APIs) rather than any traditional offline OS. But what happens when your connection dies? Are you left with a fancy plastic wafer?

Devices that use remote storage and applications is extremely valid, but I am sure some hybrid solutions will become the most successful.

Google’s ambitions promise simplicity of experience, with apps we already know – which supports this approach.

Originally posted via Gizmodo. Enjoy.