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Boris Müller
Boris Müller

6.5K Followers

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Menus, Metaphors and Materials: Milestones of User Interface Design

Why It Is Important to Understand and Appreciate Historic User Interface Designs. By Boris Müller and Frank Rausch — Students traditionally learn art and design by studying the masters, analysing, sketching and interpreting the grand visions of the past. In doing this, they get to understand the ideas, concepts and motivations behind the visual form. In user interface design, this practice is…

GUI

26 min read

Menus, Metaphors and Materials: Milestones of User Interface Design
Menus, Metaphors and Materials: Milestones of User Interface Design
GUI

26 min read


Nov 20, 2022

In the Trough of Disillusionment

The tech community is in a terrible state. How do we get out of the slump? — Most of you probably know the Gartner Hype Cycle. Right now, it’s a bit out of fashion. But back in the 90s and 00s, it was a fun and slightly ironic way to talk about the progression of technology. The basic idea behind the Hype Cycle is that all technologies…

UX

8 min read

In the Trough of Disillusionment
In the Trough of Disillusionment
UX

8 min read


Oct 25, 2022

Essays as Design Theory

Why essayistic writing is an excellent format for design theory and design research — There are many ways to express your ideas. Depending on your talents, intentions and inclinations, you can draw, compose, act, sing, dance, paint — or you can write. You simply pick the format that is most appropriate for your idea. In research, a common way to publish ideas is the…

Writing

8 min read

Essays as Design Theory
Essays as Design Theory
Writing

8 min read


May 2, 2022

Virtual Typography

My students explored the use of typography in Virtual Reality — Virtual Reality was not made for reading long texts. So it is not surprising that typography does not play a prominent role in the design of virtual environments. This, however, is a bit of a shame. As Oliver Reichenstein noted, web design is 95% typography and Frank Rausch added that…

Virtual Reality

8 min read

Virtual Typography
Virtual Typography
Virtual Reality

8 min read


Mar 19, 2022

Tools Shape Our Products

If we want to expand the design space, we need better tools. — Whenever we create something, the tools we use have a direct influence on the resulting artefact. Tools shape our products — it’s as simple as that. This observation is neither new nor original. Tools extend our capabilities. They allow us to do things that would be difficult or impossible with…

UX

7 min read

Tools Shape Our Products
Tools Shape Our Products
UX

7 min read


Jan 11, 2022

Design Critique Culture

Creating a professional culture for design feedback is an essential factor for the success of a project — All creative disciplines — be it music, art, dance, architecture, or design — share an elemental form of evaluation and assessment: the critique. These feedback sessions are deeply ingrained in each disciplinary culture, and they form the backbone of creative education. Critiques are fundamental to the development of a creative…

Design

12 min read

Design Critique Culture
Design Critique Culture
Design

12 min read


Nov 1, 2021

Stop Simulating!

Why is Mark Zuckerberg and the Metaverse so obsessed with literal simulation? — A few days ago, Mark Zuckerberg presented his vision of a virtual world called ‘Metaverse’. Personally, I found it difficult to watch the presentation. It was an endless string of warmed up ideas, bland concepts, and visual disappointments. It was infantile and tacky. But one thing intrigued me: if the…

Facebook

5 min read

Stop Simulating!
Stop Simulating!
Facebook

5 min read


Oct 16, 2021

Design for yourself! (Sometimes)

Individual creativity is a remarkable source for innovation. — ‘Always remember — you don’t design for yourself!’ is a mantra you hear a lot in the UX and interface design world. I must admit that I disagree with it. It is not fundamentally wrong. But I strongly dislike the implication that if you let designers design for themselves, they…

UX

4 min read

Design for yourself! (Sometimes)
Design for yourself! (Sometimes)
UX

4 min read


Sep 24, 2021

Making SENSES — a Project Report

Reflections on communicating and visualising climate change scenarios — The core aim of the SENSES project was the visualisation and communication of climate change scenarios. We started the project in late 2017 — and submitted the last modules in late 2020. It was a long and intense project — and…

Visualization

14 min read

Making SENSES — a Project Report
Making SENSES — a Project Report
Visualization

14 min read


Aug 20, 2021

My Problem With Figma

Working with Figma feels like being detached from my Mac — User interface designers work either with Sketch, Adobe XD or with Figma. These applications provide an excellent set of tools for creating screen designs, prototypes and quick mock-ups. I have been in the business for more than 20 years and I still remember doing screen design in Adobe Illustrator and…

UX

5 min read

My Problem With Figma
My Problem With Figma
UX

5 min read

Boris Müller

Boris Müller

6.5K Followers

Professor for Interaction Design at FH Potsdam, co-director of Urban Complexity Lab | http://uclab.fh-potsdam.de | http://esono.com | https://vis.social/@boris

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