The reader interface

The second section of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto, which we expect will be published next week, includes a chapter by Brett Sandusky that describes the power and importance of planning for user experience across publishing platforms.

Sandusky's chapter builds on prior work he has done for UX Magazine, including a piece published last April, "The UX of this article". (Lightly) editing Sandusky's chapter reminded me that we in publishing inhabit a small boat on a big ocean.

It also made me more interested in reading articles about interface design. On ReadWriteWeb, Richard MacManus recently published "5 signs of a great user experience":

  • An elegant user interface (Path is his choice)
  • Addictive (Pinterest)
  • Fast start (he favors the Kindle over the iPad in this regard)
  • Seamless experience, within and across platforms (think Rdio)
  • It changes the way we do things (iOS devices, Twitter and FitBit)

How much fun would it be to find new ways to make reading "addictive"?

I’ve written before about the value of taking a “lean consumption” approach that “solve readers’ problems completely by insuring that goods and services work, and work together.”  Going forward, we can expect that the extent to which solutions rely on technology and (borrowing from Sandusky) a good reader interface will only grow.

Note: Revised after initially posting to change “content consumption” to “reading” in both the blurb and the body of the post.

About Brian O'Leary

Founder and principal of Magellan Media Consulting, Brian O’Leary helps enterprises with media and publishing components capitalize on the power of content. A veteran of more than 30 years in the publishing industry and a prolific content producer himself, Brian leverages the breadth and depth of his experience to deliver innovative content solutions.

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