Bill Buxton's Presentation Video: "A Little Tale about Touch" (Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2010)

I am always inspired by Bill Buxton's words of wisdom.  If you haven't heard of him, know that he's been around for a very long time, coming to the world of computer science and IT through his passion for music. According to his on-line biography, "Bill Buxton is a relentless advocate for innovation, design, and - especially - the appropriate consideration of human values, capacity, and culture in the conception, implementation, and use of new products and technologies. This is reflected in his research, teaching, talks, and writing - including his column on design and innovation for BusinessWeek.com, and his 2007 book, Sketching User Experiences."

A Little Tale about Touch "It's about the physical and the social context where it is happening" (Bill Buxton)


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“The only true voyage of discovery is not to go to new places, but to see the world through different eyes”.  - Bill Buxton, quoting Proust (1913, Remembrance of Things Past)

Bill Buxton: After the Show (Interviewed by Caroline Goles, Worldwide Partner Group Business Manager)


Bill Buxton's Website
Buxton, William. (1994) The three mirrors of interaction: a holistic approach to user interfaces. In L.W. MacDonald & J. Vince (Eds.) Interacting with virtual environments. New York: Wiley.

Here is a quote from the above reference:

"The thesis of this chapter is that we should consider technology in terms of the fidelity with which it reflects human capabilities on three levels:


* physical: how we are built and what motor/sensory skills we possess;

* cognitive: how we think, learn, solve problems and what cognitive skills we possess;

* social: how we relate to our social milieu, including group structure and dynamics, power, politics, and what social skills we possess.

Our metaphor is one of three separate mirrors, each reflecting one of these levels. In order to be judged acceptable, designs must provide an acceptable degree of fidelity in how they reflect each of these three aspects of human makeup and activity. The benefit is in how the model can provide a simple but valuable test that can be used during the design process. We now look at each of these mirrors in turn."