As Far as the Customer is Concerned

As far as the customer is concerned, the interface is the product.

-- Jef Raskin, credited with conceiving the Apple MacIntosh


I had fallen well behind in reading my daily updates from SlashDot and was trying to catch up when I came across mention that Jef Raskin died 26 February, 2005. Although his opinions have of late been treated as irrelevant, and he has gained a reputation as a "crotchety old man", there is no doubt that he was a very creative fellow who contributed much to both the design of computer hardware and software, and to our knowledge of how that design work should be approached. I read his The Humane Interface when it came out, and found it to be enlightening (casting light where before there had been shadow which obscured not only what was to be seen, but the fact that something was there to be seen).

You can learn more about Jef Raskin and his teachings by visiting The Jef Raskin Center for Humane Interfaces. Be sure to check out the Archy project and the Zooming User Interface Demo while you're there.