Apple’s iLife software suite that came free with every new Mac has always been used as a Unique Selling Point of a Mac. Two of the iLife have since made the jump to iOS, namely iMovie (on the iPad and iPhone) and GarageBand (on the iPad), albeit not for free. The question is when would they port iPhoto ‘11. I always found the native iOS Photos app to be lacking in features. In all fairness it was conceived more as a photo browser, though, but some editing capabilities would be welcome.

A Gizmodo blogger decided to try the next best thing, which was to run iPhoto ‘11 on the iPad via remote desktop software. The result showed that the user interface design of the Mac app is definitely iPad ready. This tells us two things, the first of which is that Apple clearly has transmedia user interface design nailed. Transmedia user interface design is the creation of UI designs across different types of screens (i.e. desktops, smartphones, tablets, etc.). The second thing it tells us is that the speculated merging of Operating Systems into unified OSes that work across devices might be closer than we think.

The latest Mac OS X has already paved the way by incorporating iOS functionality and user interface design elements. One of these is the new Full-Screen Apps view that iPhoto has implemented. When viewing iPhoto in full-screen mode on the iPad through the remote desktop one can be fooled into thinking it is an actual iPad app. From the icons to the layout everything about the user interface design is already optimized for iOS touch operation. This is surely not happenstance. Considering that the ‘Mac’ has been dropped in OS X these new full screen apps could just be the fist port of call to a unified OS and user interface design.

In this blog post inspired by usability guru Jakob Nielsen’s newsletter I shall talk about the importance of using screen real estate when creating user interface designs for mobile devices. The user interface design arguments presented here  also apply (in various degrees) to desktops but for the purpose of this blog post I shall focus more on UI design for mobile devices.  The basis for the newsletter was an 8 year old study that found websites used only 40% of the user interface design on navigation and content of interest. Despite monitors increasing in resolution, size, and cheapness a number of user interface designers still don’t take advantage of the extra screen space. An example of this is how certain websites  open important features in tiny pop-ups that necessitate scrolling and generally add noise to the user interface design.

To provide concrete UI design examples, the report gives  the example of the ABC News iPad app. The user interface design of the ABC News app’s default home screen features a globe. At first the globe is interesting because users can spin the “world” to see what stories are making the world go round (excuse the pun). In the long run it becomes annoying as the user interface design means only one story is visible at one time. Users turn to the alternate home screen user interface design as soon as they find out how to. In short, the best way for UI designers to not waste screen space is by creating user interface designs with higher information density. This approach to UI design increases the chances of users seeing the content they want and thereby scrolling around less. However, care must also be taken to not cram the user interface design with too much information that it becomes overwhelming.

One of the hallmarks of Craigslist, the classifieds website, has been its almost unchanging and unwavering user interface design. Due to its very un-Web 2.0 user interface design the website looks like it’s a dinosaur from the World Wide Web’s earlier days. Craigslist, however, is a survivor and remains popular with 20 billion monthly page views. Even though the old adage goes “if it ain’t broken don’t fix it”, the user interface design has moved on. Surely there are a number of things Craigslist could do to improve the usability of its user interface design without alienating its user base. Navigation and search, in particular, are areas that could do with a makeover. However if Craigslist is planning a change to its user interface design they aren’t letting Joe Public know.

In the meantime those looking forward to an updated Craigslist user interface design will have to settle for Craiggers. What Craiggers does is to simply present Craigslist data in modern user interface design using the 3taps API. Navigating the user interface design is made easier by a three-column interface design with a search bar and utilities at the very top. The left column is used for the main navigation using collapsible lists of Craigslist categories.  The center and right columns of the user interface design are used to display the content of the classified ads. The center column shows a detailed list while the right column displays the ad in full. This way you no longer have to hit the back and forth buttons, or open ads in another tab. Searches can be saved so that you can return to them to, for example, see if there are new job postings. Users can also sign into Craiggers with their Facebook, Twitter or Google accounts. The only downer, at least for me,  was that Craiggers was only compatible with classifieds from the USA.

In a bid to stay ahead of the curve Yahoo Mail has rolled out the Beta version of its new user interface design. When Microsoft revamped the user interface design of its Hotmail service it also set its eyes on poaching Yahoo mail clients. To this end Microsoft even has a website specifically to convince users that the new Hotmail user interface design trumps Yahoo Mail in every way. Complete with a live ticker counting how many people “have signed up for the new Hotmail” and complaints from “ex-Yahoo! Mail users” the website shows top reasons why Hotmail and its revamped user interface design is the best thing since sliced bread. The new Yahoo Mail Beta features a cleaner and prettier user interface design. The tabs, and buttons in general, are bigger and clearer making easier to use and navigate the user interface design. Naturally social networks are integrated in a bid to keep users further glued to the webmail service.

The previously separate mail search and web search have been unified into a single search box  at the top right of the user interface design. This part of the user interface design is conventionally used for web searches and so to make it clearer the search box features two large buttons for mail and web searches. The attention to detail is evident as the Search Web button’s color always blends with the background theme color while the Search mail features a distinct yellow color. Narrowing search results is also better as the right of the user interface design offers you the chance to narrow searches based on sender, attachment file type, folder, or read and flagged status. Photo attachments can be viewed in a slick Slideshow user interface design whereas Youtube videos are now embedded into a mail. Changes to the user interface design like this are welcome and they ensure the webmail war is far from over.

When Nokia and Intel became the main partners in synthesizing Maemo and Moblin into MeeGo, the intention was to create a robust OS that could work on a number of devices. At the Intel Developers Forum in Beijing an array of tablets sported the user interface design of the MeeGo OS. Details of the user interface are scant indeed as the MeeGo website showcases all major device types but tablets! However, hands on videos indicate that MeeGo is the baby that Nokia seemingly threw out with the bath water. The web video I saw showcased a no name brand tablet. The idea of Nokia adding the same type of refinement to the hardware and user interface design of a MeeGo tablet as it has with the N9 seems like a no brainer. But alas, Nokia seems to be vested in primarily partnering with Microsoft.

Although tablets seem to have swept the rug from under the netbook’s feet I found the user interface design of MeeGo for netbooks very appealing. So much so that I was somewhat disappointed that the user interface design seen in the video wasn’t closer to the netbook version of MeeGo. The dividing of the user interface design into zones makes sense and this is also well executed on the tiled user interface design of Windows Phone 7. The bar at the top of the user interface design could even be kept pretty much as is for quick easy access. This could even work better than on the user interface design of WP7 or iOS for that matter because,for example, you could just jump straight into the desired zone without having to go back first. That would also leave space for widgets or apps to populate the rest of the user interface design.

But even if screen designs have already been made in some hi-fi graphics software (e.g. Photoshop, pidoco° can add value to the process by bringing interactivity to static screens. Adding ‘click areas’ to the finished screenshots enhance the collaboration and interaction capabilities of a former static screenshot. Colleagues, clients and test users can now easily be integrated in the designs process and online discussions can be held. Just like web conferencing, but with real-time editing never seen before!