Interface

It's a weird year to joke about elections, but the current inconsistencies and design of many voting systems is a bit of a joke. Some votes are cast on paper, others on an electronic machine, and the layouts of the ballots can vary widely from precinct to precinct. This week, we discuss some critical flaws in various ballot designs, and how the entire process could be simplified to offer a more frictionless and transparent experience. * Brexit's simple ballot * Australia's straight party ballot * Are you religious? Check yes or no * Testing ballots for usability * Election Design Field Guide * The poorly designed "Hanging Chad" ballots * The current state of electronic voting machines * Arguments in favor of electronic voting * Arguments against electronic voting * 99% Invisible, The Butterfly Effect"

So you bought a 4K TV. And the new Xbox One S. And you're paying the extra $2 to Netflix for "Ultra HD." You fire everything up, and suddenly you realize - there's not much worthwhile content to take advantage of all those bonus pixels. Finally, you settle on "Smurfs 2" (available in 4K), only to be greeted by buffering every few minutes. There are many hurdles to 4K right now, but is it a consumer gimmick? * What exactly is 4K (according to Wikipedia) * 2020 Olympics to be availabe in 8K * 4K.com Content Guide * AltVR experience * An Interview in VR * Myke Hurley and CGP Grey explain VR, Cortex #32

After a long weekend, Andrew heads in to work, only to realize that his wireless keyboard and mouse are on his desk at home. After checking around the office, he decides his best option is to just suffer through using the touchscreen of his Surface 4 to work on editing a few pictures in Photoshop. After an hour of effort, and almost no progress on the task, he downloads Pixelmator for his iPhone, and is able to edit the images in a matter of minutes, leaving him to wonder what good a touchscreen is if you're stuck using mouse-based apps. * Microsoft Surface Book * Microsoft Surface Pro 4 * Microsoft's Pitch for the Surface * Touching Photoshop for Windows * Pixelmator for iOS * Hoverbar Mount for iPad * Continuity & Handoff for Mac and iOS * Continuum for Windows * Superbook * A Canvas made of Pixels

Chase is a dad of 2, and Ian is about to be a dad, and Andrew was away on business, so this week, we take a quick dive into smart devices for kids (babies). We also discuss how fitness wearables for adults offer motivation, and the desire for social elements in a fitness tracker. * Owlet Baby Monitor * Snuza Baby Monitor * Kinsa Thermometer * Flo Thermometer * ResearchKit's Impact on Medical Studies * Empatica Embrace * Microsoft Band * Pebble * Misfit Shine * Fitbit * Apple Watch * watchOS 3 Activity Sharing * Pebble Core

When we were young, we would do and say what we wanted. For many of us, what seemed acceptable in the moment, later seemed like an embarrassing, stupid, or hurtful thing, but rarely had lasting evidence. Now, in an era of "everything online, all the time," what can be done about the trail of dumb we leave behind? * Right to be forgotten * Facebook Activity Log * Google account history * Facebook News Feed Privacy * Export all Facebook data * Snapchat Memories * Google Photos * ISHU reflective scarf

I'm not writing anything snarky or goofy about online toxicity. It's bad, and whether or not you agree with the viewpoints of people who are expressing their opinions, no one deserves to receive constant abuse, death threats, and rape threats. Today, we talk about what can be done and what's being done to combat online toxicity. -John Gabriel's Greater Internet _______ Theory (we're a clean show I guess?) -YikYak is garbage -@nero banned from Twitter forever -xkcd on free speech as a defense (read the alt text) -Periscope's solution to online harrassment -Racism in Hearthstone -The Elo rating system -Brawlhalla -Dota2 player realizes he's being a dick (report at eleven!) -Overwatch more popular than League of Legends in Korea -League of Legends is enormous -Jeff Lin of Riot discusses how they tested eliminating toxicity -Another Jeff Lin talk -Yet another Jeff Lin talk -More on Jeff's experiments at Riot -A good overview on Riot's attempts to curb harrassment -Ruining it for the rest of us -Dark patterns as a

Ian is being crushed by a deluge of newsletter spam. They want conversions, he wants inbox zero! Later, he turns the tables and makes a million dollars tricking people into paying him three dollars every month for a service they don't even know they are paying for. Your writer was up late last night, so sorry about the show notes. * In Defense of The Floppy * The difference between Spam and Bacn * Unroll Me * Dark Patterns * Deception in Design * Idle Words: Haunted by Words * Terms of Services, Didn't Read * Twitter Dark Pattern

After a terrible, tragicly unfortunate event, Ian's original recording of this episode was lost, leaving us no option but to re-record, as to not miss our Monday deadline. Fortunately, we pinned our show notes to a virtual bulletin board and were able to cover the super popular game! But is it even a game, or is it something else? The much hyped PokémonGo, augmented reality (AR), and how the new wave of AR apps could leverage social elements. Go play Pokémon Go! * [PokémonGo for iOS](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pokemon-go/id1094591345?mt=8&at=11lwCV) * [PokémonGo for Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nianticlabs.pokemongo&hl=en)

"Off-camera, a hand. On-camera, a wife. A husband. A baby shower. Thumbs bubble up from the corner, punctuated by the occasional heart. Messages trickle in from family members distributed around the country. Then a presence, one you haven't felt since high school disturbs your bliss. Your Facebook Live privacy settings were wrong — if only we still used Google Plus!" Some real-life feedback on the use of live video streaming for personal events, as well as in educational and office situations. * Glide * Revolve Robotics * Double Robotics * My Life as a Robot * Snowbot * Long distance VR relationships * First webcam * World of Warcraft Weddings)

Colin Ray joins us to discuss the evolution and potential future of computer input methods, and strange twists and turns through the landscape of game controllers - most notably the Steam controller. *In the words of Andrew:* ENGELBART IS LOVE, ENGELBART IS LIFE. ENGELBART IS GENIUS. ENGELBART IS REMEMBERED FOR AN INPUT DEVICE HE DIDN'T EVEN INVENT. COLIN MADE HIS OWN STREET FIGHTER CONTROLLER DECAL. HOVER GESTURES. TOUCH GESTURES. LINE WOBBLER. ENGELBART. ENGELBART. ENGELBART. -[The Mother of all Demos (1968)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJDv-zdhzMY) -[A brief history of video game controllers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0enY7UfKbU&app=desktop) -[Sketchpad (1963)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USyoT_Ha_bA) -[Bret Victor of Worrydream](http://worrydream.com) -[The *insane* GameCube keyboard controller](http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/05/d2/70/05d270c28e19aa81cbe2038cc8a7f2b4.jpg) -[The Xbox Chatpad (which is stupid)](http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/accessories/communications/chatpad)

[In a very special episode of Interface](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxTPgaAE3Eo), Chase tries not to be murdered by his too-smart house, Ian goes for days without electricity, and Andrew tapes a Kindle Fire HD™ to his refrigerator so he too can join the Internet of Things. Will our heroes survive when their toaster can set their kitchen on fire? Will their cloud-based bathtub scald them after a long day of work? Find out on this _very special_ Interface! - [The growth of IoT](http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-internet-of-things-market-will-grow-2014-10) - [16 mobile theses — #12 is particularly interesting](http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2015/12/15/16-mobile-theses) - [GE's _C_ lights](https://www.cbyge.com) - [Smart house hauntings](http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/07/26/smart-homes-hack/#363e931e46a5) - [Kevo smartlock security](http://www.kwikset.com/kevo/security#.V2xBLmN56Gu) - [Volvo wants things delivered to your trunk](http://fortune.com/2016/05/10/volvo-urb-it-de

In a modern office, present day. We see a silhouette from behind; in front, a computer monitor. The gentle clatter of a keyboard, the "bwooooop" of messages being sent back and forth. The cadence of messages slowly picks up until they're being sent as quickly as if they were speaking. The camera pushes in and we can see the screen: a cacophony of images, text, full-screen effects filling the screen as message bubbles shoot in front the sides, from above, shrink and grow and shake and expand. One shoots lasers out, only to replaced immediately by confetti. Finally, the fateful message comes up: "i g2g." The TYPIST cringes instinctively at the abbreviation, but nevertheless sends another message of understanding. The green status indicator next to the friend's name blinks to a hollow gray circle, the name italicized. All that remains is the static, froze log of the chaotic communication that filled it just a moment before. The TYPIST looks down and picks up a cell phone. A green icon indicates another message.

This week on Interface, a special guest host: Chase Meusel! (Ok, not really, but he is back this week.) We sit down and have a conversation about the nerdiest accessories you can get this season. Do you need a $500 wrist mounted computer that reminds you stand up once an hour? Get your sweet reviews here! I should probably type the word "wearable" here so you can find it later with search. 1. [Apple Watch > Rolex](http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/31/10872686/this-month-in-luxury-apple-watch-beats-rolex) 2. [Apple Watch made more money than Rolex](http://bgr.com/2016/04/26/apple-watch-sales-vs-rolex/) 3. [Withings Activité](http://www.withings.com/us/en/products/activite) 4. [UsTwo modular smartwatch interface](https://ustwo.com/blog/crafting-the-next-generation-of-smart-watch-faces) 5. [UsTwo Face Maker](https://ustwo.com/blog/face-maker-a-personalization-love-story) 6. [Wired article on the Disney MagicBand](http://www.wired.com/2015/03/disney-magicband/all/1) 7. [Push for Pizza](https://www.pushforpizza.com)

You may have noticed that lately, Chase has been absent from the podcast. Fortunately, we've tracked down (at least some of) the problem, and found it to be mostly scheduling conflicts. This got us wondering, is there a better way to handle scheduling, calendars, and productivity? This week, Andrew and Ian dive into the current, messy state of calendars and scheduling, and highlight some products, services, and ideas that might make it better in the future. -[x.ai](https://x.ai/how-it-works/) -[WhenIsGood](http://whenisgood.net) -[Sunrise (RIP) Keyboard](http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/14/8586789/sunrise-meet-keyboard-scheduling-calendar) -[What Calendar Watch](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1540240985/calendar-watch) -[Your calendar is a mess](https://medium.com/habit-of-introspection/your-calendar-is-a-mess-f9a0a3457fb1#.j2vmp0bvb) -[RescueTime](https://www.rescuetime.com/features) -[Invisible design](https://medium.com/intercom-inside/invisible-design-why-is-less-more-f13d3640d531#.c36xuzv5z) -[Fricti

It's easy for a usability designer to get beaten down and depressed by all the bad interactions in the world. Doors with terrible affordances, unclear signs, and software that gets in the way more than it helps you. Today, Ian and Andrew talk about all the good things out there — interactions where a designer took the time to sit down, examine the problem, and create a solution that actually helps people out. There's a lot of good out there! Links, show notes, and more at http://ianfuchs.xyz/8 -Mazda CX-5 Keyless Entry -Kevo Bluetooth Door Lock -Gyroscope Running -UsTwo: Designing for Movement -Ten Principles for Good Design -Misa Kitara -iON All-Star iPad Guitar -Olympus Micro 4/3 Camera -PowerPoint Auto-Spacing

Andrew just got back from four weeks of traveling and a move and all he wants to do is sit down and watch some TV. But where can he find the first season of Veronica Mars? This week — we try to figure out how to fix TV (if it's even broken at all). -[SlingTV](http://www.sling.tv) -[R.I.P Aereo](http://www.wired.com/2014/11/aereo-bankruptcy/all/1) -[TV](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQmK1CnwOUI) -[An interesting (French) proposal for a unified TV interface](http://www.samuel-medvedowsky.com/work/sfr/) -[Planet Money episode on cable TV channels](http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/09/27/226891181/episode-488-the-secret-history-of-your-cable-bill) -[Cable Subscriptions Fall](http://www.businessinsider.com/cable-tv-subscribers-plunging-2015-8) -[Why advertising is going to implode](http://idlewords.com/2015/11/the_advertising_bubble.htm) -[81.5 *million* Netflix subscribers](http://www.statista.com/statistics/250934/quarterly-number-of-netflix-streaming-subscribers-worldwide/) -[YouTube Red](https://en.wiki

"Hey Alexa, I messed up." Immediately, flowers are purchased and sent to your wife's office, along with a heartfelt card. Ten different messages were solicited on Mechanical Turk and the best was selected by votes on the same service. Using her Amazon purchase history, her favorite brand of chocolate was determined and a bar was sent to your home, along with her preferred wine. The Foursquare most-romantic restaurants are consulted, and a reservation is made via OpenTable at the one with the highest Yelp ratings. Google automatically determines the best route and calls you and your wife individual Ubers to meet up at the restaurant — but just one to take you home. -[Viv](http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/9/11639992/viv-digital-assistant-ai-artificial-intelligence-siri) -[Facebook M](http://www.wired.com/2015/08/facebook-launches-m-new-kind-virtual-assistant/all/1) -[SMS-Based question answering services](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:SMS-based_question_answering_services) -[Mechanical Turk](https://www.

It's late at night. You've spent the whole day transferring files from your external drive to your computer and then uploading them to your online storage service, and it's hard work. You reward yourself with a beer (you've earned it) and return from the kitchen to your desk. Your file transfer is done, the clock reads 1:33 AM, you're ready for bed. You click the eject button so you can put your hard drive away — but instead of disconnecting the drive, you log out out of the web application — losing all of your data! Even worse, you already removed the drive, and the warning on the operating system has come true: all your files are corrupted! Links to all the things we discussed at ianfuchs.xyz/5 ———————— - [Icon understandings are based on previous experience](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/icon-usability/) - [More on icons and usability. Andrew always thinks the reply icon in Gmail is a back button.](http://moc.co/2012/01/icons-vs-text/) - [Labels always win.](http://uxmyths.com/post/715009009/myth-icons-

Andrew elaborates on his masters project, digging into the 10-foot interface and the presence of social interactions within the gaming & television media experience Links to all the things we discussed, and ways to subscribe at [ianfuchs.xyz/4](http://ianfuchs.xyz/4) - [Xbox Interface Refresh](http://www.polygon.com/2015/6/15/8786725/heres-the-new-xbox-one-user-interface-coming-this-fall) - [Master Lilja's Masters Project](http://andrewlilja.xyz/masters-project/) - [Alto's Adventure](http://www.altosadventure.com) - Phantasy Star Online:  - [Top 10 Tweets per Episode of TV](http://www.statista.com/statistics/304363/us-twitter-tv-series-audience-buzz/) - [Joint Watching Netflix](http://showgoers.tv)

Imagine you wake up one morning and find that your child has suddenly developed a new taste in self-published fantasy. Soon, your phone lights up: your plumber, a curious man, has ordered 15 rolls of toilet paper using the Dash button mounted in the bathroom! The doorbell rings — the 18 gallons of Tide detergent your dog ordered are on your doorstep. All horrifying vignettes — that could happen to you! Links to all the things we discussed at http://ianfuchs.xyz/3 [In-App Purchase Kid](http://www.cnet.com/news/5-year-old-sorry-for-racking-up-2500-ipad-bill-in-10-minutes/) [Another In-App Purchase Kid](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/in-app-purchasing-and-3-000-itunes-bill-stun-mom-1.1342843) [Freemium Whales](https://games.slashdot.org/story/14/02/28/1848228/study-half-of-in-app-purchases-come-from-only-015-of-players) [Family Sharing](http://mashable.com/2014/10/04/ios-8-family-sharing/#F6uaWUJngqqB) [Kindles with Ads](http://www.cio.com/article/2371022/peripherals/why-you-want-a-kindle-wi