NEW WORLD HUD EXPO!

Aster Lardner's Koshin Travel HUD

If you read my GigaGamez essay on Second Life hype and anti-hype a few days ago, you know my biggest gripe with SL is a user interface which is, well, monumentally difficult to use, let alone learn.  But rather than continue ranting about that, or wait for Linden Lab to drastically improve the native UI-- and judging by the massive project list from Cory Linden's last Town Hall appearance, that could easily become a game of geek Godot-- I'm going to do my small part to help here.

With that, I hereby launch The New World Notes User Interface HUD Expo, a two to three month showcase for custom heads-up displays which enhance the Second Life user interface.  Two categories of HUDs will compete to win free advertising on this blog, autographed copies of the official guidebook and my own book (when it's published)-- and, of course, a chance to improve the SL experience from the ground up.

If you have a UI-oriented HUD or plan to create one in the next couple months, read the rules below for submitting it as an Expo entry.

The NWN HUD Expo will have two categories:  "Mom HUD", and "Vet HUD"

Mom HUD, as the name suggests, is the HUD you would give to your own mother, if she (or another inexperienced computer user you cared about) were joining Second Life for the very first time.  It will display all or most of the main commands of Second Life on a HUD that's easy to understand and navigate.  Imagine this as the ultimate goal:  a totally new user wearing this HUD should be able to skip Orientation Island and interact in Second Life without much trouble, primarily with the mouse.

Vet HUD, as the name suggests, is a heads-up display which provides extra functionality and simplicity to veteran Residents looking for tools, shortcuts, and applications which improve the experience they're already familiar with.

To sumbit your HUD entry:

- E-mail me a .jpeg or .gif screenshot of your HUD in action.  Make sure the image is legible, and does not depict the standard user interface in the screenshot (unless it's merged with your HUD)
- Include a HUD name and short description of what functionality the HUD provides
- Specify "MOM" or "VET" in the description
- Include a SLURL or other instructions for readers who want to pick up or buy a copy
- Include your Resident name for credit, along with collaborators (if any)

Additional Guidelines

- Submission deadline is Feburary 1st, but I will publish entries roughly in the order I get them
- HUDs which sell for L$1000 or less are permissable
- HUDs created by real world companies and organizations in SL are permissable
- I reserve the right not to run entries which don't fit the letter or intent of the Expo

Selecting the winners

Either I or an expert judge (as with Clive Thompson and the Uncanny Valley Expo) will select the top three-five submissions in each category.  (At that point, I'll request copies of the HUDs, for review.)  These finalists will be put up for a reader vote.  The winners in each category get a free one year advertisement for their HUD on this blog, autographed copies of the official guidebook and my own book, when it's published.

Sample submission

So here's what a typical HUD entry will look like, when it's published on New World Notes:

Aster Lardner's Koshin Teleport HUD (Vet)

It's basically a map teleport HUD that looks nice. The nicer features are the SLURL maker and the Google bookmarks/del.icio.us SLurl exporter. It is also really handy for sharing links in-world using chat and the secondlife://region/x/y/z protocol. It also changes color easily, which is something I'm disproportionately proud of.  Pick up a copy with this direct teleport to my store in Gulik.

Comments

[starcomber Vig]

I won't discuss the quality of the HUD mentioned in the post, it certainly looks brilliant, useful and reminds me the type of UI(s) Kai Krause used to build on top of Bryce and some of the early KPT(s). Many more will come.

I have still to find a HUD that tries not to re-invent the wheel when new and fresh customers on the riverside expect to find the same consolidated UI rules that apply to browsers, email clients et al.

It's good to have innovative developers in SL, it's bad that few if any of them know or try to implement consolidated usability schemes that may inch user retention a bit forward.

[Dolus Naumova]

This is a very cool contest. I really don't have a whole lot to add to starcomber, except that I believe this will help improve the user experience as a whole.

[Torley]

starcomber makes a fascinating point about Kai Krause's work: I am a YUGE fan, as obtuse, obscure, and opaque the Kai interfaces have been at times... they've definitely been influential to the whole "Shade this button and make it look 3D!" that still hits us today, come Web 2.0 and beyond.

In particular, the latticing of the buttons in this HUD is reminiscent. It makes me smile.

If any HUD designers have looked at ArtRage @ http://www.artrage.com/ , I'm curious to know if there are any design principles which could be adopted from that. While not a fan of gratuitous animation, I *do* like smooth motion with HUDs, e.g., some which collapse and expand and have smooth glows instead of binary on/off blinks.

Interdisciplinary talent seems to be a prominent forerunner when "innovative developers" are brought up: it's important to remember that in addition to an engineer, Kai Krause is *also* an artist, *and* a music composer. Being able to lay your eyes across multiple fields and give fresh answers to tired old questions is often what's required.