Here are my notes about the talks that resonated most with my work and interests. Check out the Push Conference on the Web.
Designing Delightful Details for a UI Revolution
Toby showed us how elegant banking can be with Simple. Even when it’s supposed to be boring and hard. The secret is to delight users with details they would never expect, like creating nice packages for cards, creative contact-forms or a tip-calculator.
May take a while until it arrives in Germany, though. One problem I see: the tagging and categorizing of transactions only makes sense when you pay everything with your credit-card. In Germany, most purchases still happen in cash.
The tagging and tracking also allows Simple to get insights about usage and user-behaviour.
Virtual Reality & The Future of the Web
One of my favorite talks was about the coming of VR with the Oculus Rift and how it will change everything again, like smartphones changed web-design. New interaction-paradigms are going to emerge and new ways of conveying information are offering chances for pioneering. Using the Oculus Rift with Chrome/Firefox and WebGL is already possible. As soon as the free version of Unity3D supports it, I’m getting one.
Josh’s talk made me think a lot about the implications and use-cases of VR. Like the Segway found its niche in transporting tourists and mall-cops, VR might be useful in ways you wouldn’t think of right away, like getting rid of phobias or being in a live-concert.
Getting from A to B – The Art of Interpolation
Frankly, I have never thought about easing more than using Robert Penner’s functions. But those pre-defined equations aren’t always the best choice. A custom easing-curve can communicate lots of attitude and style in a digital product when used right.
Dancing with Data – Interactive Information Visualisation
Ben Fry is a co-creator of Processing and Processing is the creator of my interest in the interactive field, so I was really looking forward to this particular talk, and it didn’t manage to disappoint me.
Taming huge amounts of data and molding them into usable, readable and most importantly enjoyable experiences is what he and his company Fathom are all about. Ben talked about Miles Davis, Rocky and primarily Connected China, a project they did together with Reuters.