Jeff Atwood editorializes the Uncanny Valley of User Interface Design, illustrating the point that mindlessly porting desktop conventions in UI to the Web may not be the best approach.
I’ve always liked web-apps that port the “power” of the desktop (i.e. fast responsiveness, not necessarily a page load each action, etc.), but still feel free to shake off some of the desktop’s limitations.
On the Web, we seem to be headed towards the idea of “interactive documents”, which put the content first and the controls second (on-demand). On the desktop, the apps were first and the content was second. If all we’re doing is porting, then we’re pulling the bad forward along with the good. Better to consciously decide what we keep, and what we throw out in favor of something better.
He contrasts an AJAX-Web email client with a desk-top client. Too bad he didn’t include (or couldn’t find?) a Web email client that truly shed the legacy of the desktop in favor of something next-level for the Web. I’d like to see that.
