UI / UX
User interfaces and “user experience” ideas.
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Background: Essentially all major programming languages exclusively use keywords written in English. (For a couple of exceptions, see the addendum at the end.) But this doesn’t have to be the case! Proposal: By using symbols instead of words, we can convey a concept both more concisely and more easily across languages. See below for a…
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Background: The humble door-locking deadbolt has suffered from a severe failure of innovation and imagination in the last 100 years. Specifically: most deadbolts have exactly two positions (Figure 1): Open (door can be opened from either side) Closed (door requires a key to open from the outside or a switch to be operated from the…
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Background: The stop sign, for all its utilitarian simplicity, has a severe and critical shortcoming: it has two different roles, both marked by the same sign (Figure 1). The two situations, and what the driver must do in each case: All-way stop: driver can casually check for other cars right there at the intersection, and…
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The issue: If you’re wearing headphones, it can be difficult to hear when someone is trying to get your attention. (Similarly, it can be heard to get the attention of someone wearing headphones without startling them.) Proposal: Headphones could have a small microphone on them with a processing unit that could listen for certain words.…
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The issue: In many houses, certain rooms—especially kitchens and living rooms—have a half dozen or more light switches that control a wide array of lights and other accessories. Often, even after many years, the house’s occupant never learns which switch is which. Proposal: Instead of just randomly picking a switch to toggle until the correct…
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The issue: For most snack foods, it’s easy to eat a HUGE quantity of the food in question. This is no surprise—snack foods were specifically designed to be easy to eat. Plus even after you’ve eaten a bunch, it takes a minute or two to feel full. Proposal: Here is a technique to eat fewer…
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Background: There are a few cell phone games that use real-world GPS data to control your in-game character. The most well-known are probably the two games by Niantic, Pokemon Go and Ingress, in which you physically walk around in order to move your in-game character. However, no one has yet implemented a smaller-scale version of…
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Background: Millions of laptops are destroyed every year by spilled drinks (Figure 1). Unfortunately, this is a difficult problem to address, because laptops and beverages are frequently in close proximity. Fig. 1a (top) and 1b (bottom): You have probably either experienced this situation first-hand or observed it happen to someone else. If only there had…
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Background: There are hundreds of famous and excellent movies, but almost no one has seen them all! It’s possible to laboriously go through the extensive backlog of classic movies, but with the current volume of media, this would be a major endeavor. Proposal: By splitting a screen into N segments (for this example, let’s say…
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The issue: Sometimes, it’s hard to keep in touch with your friends and family, especially if you live in different cities and time zones. Proposal: The solution is quite simple—an app that keeps track of when you last met up with, texted, called, or otherwise contacted your friends and family. In fact, it could even…
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