The
Octagon
Project
“We don't know the first thing about
building software.”
Peter
Møller Nielsen 1975
The Octagon has been years in forming. The coding started less than a
year ago. In 1975, I attended a seminar in Aarhus, Denmark, given by
one Peter Møller Nielsen. It was about the structure of the
interaction process. It described some problems, particularly connected
with 'undo' operations. At this seminar, Peter made the remark quoted
above.
Sadly it is as true now as it was then. We have a lot more software and
it is mostly just as bad as it was in the 1970s. I saw a glimmer of
hope in 1984 when Apple produced the Macintosh and a set of
recommendations for user interface. But politics has intervened.
Everyone wants standards but each wants the standard he or she already
uses.
User interface design has appeared as a discipline. Learned books have
been written. Principles have been suggested. Hundreds of experiments
have produced research papers in the advantage of this or that
hardware. We have tangible interfaces, haptics, visual input, 3D mice
and so on. But between the hardware and the user’s desire lies a subtle
area of ignorance. How should an interaction be structured? How does
the user know what is going on? How does the context define the meaning
of the action?
There are numerous research papers on cooperation, remote desktops,
virtual sketchpads, information organisers, editors for engineering
design and for entertainment animation. Why does it take so long to
learn Maya? Why is it that practically every designer you meet still
uses pencil and paper to begin with?
In the real world, every action is defined by context. I close my hand.
What am I picking up? It depends where my hand is. If I take hold of a
steering wheel, I'm going to turn it. If I grasp the rung of a ladder,
I'm about to move myself.
The Octagon is a test bed, an environment for experimenting with this
difficult middle area. Superficially, it is just a game, a
demonstration of easy operation and cooperation. But it is really a set
of tools for building and comparing interaction schemes.
As the project develops, I hope to discover something useful.
Meanwhile, we’re having fun.
Geoff Wyvill
22 February 2011
Updated 6 November 2011