A few weeks old now but still relevant, this article by designer Bret Victor discusses the path user experience is taking and why it might not be the optimal direction for human interaction with computers.  Largely a response to Microsoft’s “Future Vision” demo, Victor has a fascinating viewpoint that some may not have considered in the face of flashy new technology.

Microsoft’s “Future Vision”:

Victor asserts that what he calls “Pictures Under Glass” interfaces lack the connection with human senses that good tools provide.  This missing connection causes users to shape themselves and their behavior around tools, rather than tools acting as an extension of the human body.

As an example, Victor discusses the haptic feedback of reading an paperback book:

“Notice how you know where you are in the book by the distribution of weight in each hand, and the thickness of the page stacks between your fingers. Turn a page, and notice how you would know if you grabbed two pages together, by how they would slip apart when you rub them against each other.”

He then compares that to playing “piano” on the iPad:

“What did you feel? Did it feel glassy? Did it have no connection whatsoever with the task you were performing?

I call this technology Pictures Under Glass. Pictures Under Glass sacrifice all the tactile richness of working with our hands, offering instead a hokey visual facade.

Is that so bad, to dump the tactile for the visual? Try this: close your eyes and tie your shoelaces. No problem at all, right? Now, how well do you think you could tie your shoes if your arm was asleep? Or even if your fingers were numb? When working with our hands, touch does the driving, and vision helps out from the back seat.

Pictures Under Glass is an interaction paradigm of permanent numbness. It’s a Novocaine drip to the wrist. It denies our hands what they do best. And yet, it’s the star player in every Vision Of The Future.”

(This is likely the reason a predominant amount of “iPad Bands” you see on Youtube are horribly out of time.)

Though Victor’s article doesn’t offer anything in the way of an alternative to touch-screen interfaces (which he gladly admits in the beginning of his article), his argument is one that’s hard to write off.

Read his entire article here, it’s worth it.