M Linden commented today on the unofficial Second Life Effects blog talking about Viewer 2.0. The new Second Life viewer 2.0 will be out in “public beta soon” which is a “enormously complex redesign effort” by Linden Lab. M Linden says “there is still work to do, but it is a big step forward”. Then he finishes his comment with “Soon we’ll have Viewer 2.0 out. By mid year you’ll see a materially improved “first hour” experience for new Residents”. We are going for “Delight.” 🙂
From the latest I have been hearing viewer 2.0 should be released in the first quarter of 2010 and there will be new details soon released on the official second life blog shortly. I have created a new section on my SL Wiki userpage called Viewer 2.0 Updates so you may be interested in checking that out. When more information comes out I will publish it here on my blog.
Great post ArminasX! The first thing I did when I joined the Lab was to count the top-level menu items. I came up with a similar figure. In Viewer 2.0, I can tell you that the top level menus will have a fraction of the menu items you’ll find in 1.23…even fewer than Firefox (according to my quick tally)!
We are not eliminating functionality, but we are re-organizing it. The menus in 1.23 are a bit like a game of “Find the thing that doesn’t belong.” Here’s one…in the View menu (arguably the worst) you have a cluster that includes Local Chat, Communicate, Inventory, Active Speakers, Mute List. What is Inventory doing in that cluster? You got me.
Communicate controls are found in three different menu areas in 1.23 and some choices are duplicated.
This is an enormously complex redesign effort. The new viewer — which will be out in public beta soon — is the first major step in the journey to a natural and intuitive experience.
We’re reorganizing and in doing so simplifying. I don’t see it as dumbing down. In fact, I think we are doing the opposite. We are letting good and smart interface design do some of the hard work Residents have had to do to climb the learning curve in the past. The learning curve in SL is too steep today. It is a barrier to creativity and innovation. Imagine the great creative spirits we’ve lost because they were stymied by the interface in their first days/weeks/months.
I use Viewer 2.0 now and the transition was easy. Most everything is there and it’s where you’d intuitively expect it to be. It’s not perfect, and there is still work to do, but it is a big step forward.
Soon we’ll have Viewer 2.0 out. By mid year you’ll see a materially improved “first hour” experience for new Residents. We are going for “Delight.” 🙂
Happy New Year!
M Linden
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- Great post ArminasX! The first thing I did when I joined the Lab was to count the top-level menu items. I came up with a similar figure. In Viewer 2.0, I can tell you that the top level menus will have a fraction of the menu items you’ll find in 1.23…even fewer than Firefox (according to my quick tally)!
We are not eliminating functionality, but we are re-organizing it. The menus in 1.23 are a bit like a game of “Find the thing that doesn’t belong.” Here’s one…in the View menu (arguably the worst) you have a cluster that includes Local Chat, Communicate, Inventory, Active Speakers, Mute List. What is Inventory doing in that cluster? You got me.
Communicate controls are found in three different menu areas in 1.23 and some choices are duplicated.
This is an enormously complex redesign effort. The new viewer — which will be out in public beta soon — is the first major step in the journey to a natural and intuitive experience.
We’re reorganizing and in doing so simplifying. I don’t see it as dumbing down. In fact, I think we are doing the opposite. We are letting good and smart interface design do some of the hard work Residents have had to do to climb the learning curve in the past. The learning curve in SL is too steep today. It is a barrier to creativity and innovation. Imagine the great creative spirits we’ve lost because they were stymied by the interface in their first days/weeks/months.
I use Viewer 2.0 now and the transition was easy. Most everything is there and it’s where you’d intuitively expect it to be. It’s not perfect, and there is still work to do, but it is a big step forward.
Soon we’ll have Viewer 2.0 out. By mid year you’ll see a materially improved “first hour” experience for new Residents. We are going for “Delight.” 🙂
Happy New Year!
M Linden
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