“An Inductive” here should be “A Deductive”
Probably confusing for people new to the concept.

Hopefully this notion is seen as only one lens with which to view a problem. There are always times when we do know enough about what a user is trying to accomplish to keep it simple, and certainly we can work to make smarter and smarter interfaces that can make good guesses about what someone might most want to do next, but Microsoft seems to be taking too specific action in response to their initial observations.

Maybe I just don’t get it, but I remain skeptical of the emperor’s new interface.

There is a place for task-centered IUIs -ATMs and other kiosks come to mind, along with certain use-once web apps. However, the very notion of a task-centered spreadsheet or word processor is terrifying. I can’t see IUIs scaling well to broad, complex, flexible, and dynamic tasks without degenerating into a ponderous and confusing maze of multiply interconnected windows or pages. Also, while task-centered UIs may be more effective in telling users what they can *do*, they’re pretty crummy at telling users what they *have*.

The problems MS cites with object-centered “deductive” UIs really exist, but maybe the problem isn’t inherent in being object-centered but with manner it is implemented. Too often such designs (including MS’s) don’t follow the basic principles consistency, clarity, tolerance, and proportionality. Among other things, failure to adhere to these principles has made users afraid to do anything unless the computer or someone explicitly says it’s all right.

E.g.:
- “User’s don’t understand the software’s conceptual model”
- “Instead, assuming the user’s (1) are familiar …”

Even with acronyms and initialisms there is no need for an apostrophe: IUIs, GUIs etc.

And “its” as a possessive pronoun also has no apostrophe (”The example Microsoft gives in the article is from it’s redesign of Microsoft Money”)

This sort of thing makes me wince, particularly in an posting that is describing good UI practice..

The Wizard of Doze wrote:
Focus each screen on a single task.

ROTFLMAO. Let’s all go back to single core processors and application-based context switching (as opposed to pre-emptive) on a 64K Pentium I running Windows 1.0.

I mean, hello Microsoft, people multitask!!!.

The Wizard of Doze wrote:
State the task.

Work is often so complicated that it would take more to state the task than to perform the task.

The Wizard of Doze wrote:
Make the screen’s contents suit the task.

No, give the user the ability to select from lightweight UI’s that can be tailored to facilitate that task.

The Wizard of Doze wrote:
Offer links to secondary tasks.

No, eliminate wasteful mouse clicks and complex paths leading from the primary task to a required sub-sub-sub-sub task option by simply flattening out the possibilities and let me what I want, when I want.