Rethinking User Interface

Here are a few ideas to change current UI:

• I thought about ways for the reader to know where he or she is in relation to the end of an article. A slim, scalable grayscale bar on the left side of the text might do the trick. The bar starts on white and turns to gray as the reader progresses through the article. The ending color is not black, but a few degrees less than true black. Hopefully this is less harsh on the human eye than true black. Here’s how it would appear implemented on NYTimes.com:

• Allow desktop files to be sorted chronologically, automatically and in addition to your own personal structure. Often I am working on a file and forget where I put it but do remember approximately when I worked on it. Placing files in a chronological context would allow me to see what else I was working on at the time, in case there are additional relevant files. I’d have a folder on the desktop called “Today’s Files.” It would contain references to every file I worked on today. Then I’d have another folder with name and date context that changes dynamically daily. Tomorrow, “Today’s Files” become “Yesterday’s Files” and so on. See the pictures below.

• When clicking search results, the search engine should place you on the part of the page containing the information you were looking for. DOM anchor tags??

• To type a capital letter on a mobile QWERTY keyboard, allow the option of holding any key for an additional fraction of a second.