2004-06-04
SETI @ Home
INFO VISUALIZATION:This summer I'll have some extra time on my hands, so I'm going to try and do a bi-weekly project where I create or recreate an information visualization or interface.
Today I recreated the Seti@Home interface. Why SETI@Home has been around for so long and been so popular, yet changed so little? I don't know, but if someone asked me to redesign the Seti@Home GUI -- and no one has -- I might create something like this:
(click for actual size version)
For reference, here's the current version:
(click for actual size version)
As you can see, I would leave the basic layout intact; it works so no reason to mess with it. However, the pitch black background would be the first to go. I don't know about you, but when I look at the real Seti@Home interface, the first thing I notice is that giant, ugly, light-blue "grid." So that was the second thing to go. Last but not least, I cleaned up the interface to make it more pleasing to look at and also easier to explore. If only they supported skins.
¶ 3:52 PM
Today I recreated the Seti@Home interface. Why SETI@Home has been around for so long and been so popular, yet changed so little? I don't know, but if someone asked me to redesign the Seti@Home GUI -- and no one has -- I might create something like this:
(click for actual size version)
For reference, here's the current version:
(click for actual size version)
As you can see, I would leave the basic layout intact; it works so no reason to mess with it. However, the pitch black background would be the first to go. I don't know about you, but when I look at the real Seti@Home interface, the first thing I notice is that giant, ugly, light-blue "grid." So that was the second thing to go. Last but not least, I cleaned up the interface to make it more pleasing to look at and also easier to explore. If only they supported skins.
¶ 3:52 PM
