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Inside the New Xbox Live - Part One
Each channel contains slots, which in the final version will be dynamic with animation and colour, images often extending outside the bounds of the slot. Though they’re currently rendered flat, the plan is that they will be scaled so that they’re flipped through in a similar manner to iTunes’ Cover Flow. Instead of the old task-based system, which was designed to execute functions that the user already knows they want, the new dash is designed to invite serendipity.
“It’s bubbled up to the surface and is much broader instead of being narrower and deeper – you see more options,” says Whitten. “How we bubble up friends and the interesting things that are happening on the console, on Live – this is at the core of this. It’s like: ‘I want to turn this thing on to see what’s going on’.”
We visit the comparatively spacious studio of Xbox’s design team, led by Chris Esaki, a low-lit haven among the boxy rooms that surround it. “The challenge here was how to refresh the dashboard, maintain some of the equity and feel and bring more depth to it.”
Esaki explains before introducing the lead designer behind the new user interface, Jeff Faulkner (left). Quietly spoken, Faulkner was until January a director at branding and design agency Blast Radius. He points out that Live’s blend of social network and digital content, presented on a TV screen, had him designing for a space that no one had ever really been working on before.
“How do you keep it compelling, how can you stay out of the way so people can play games, how can you share everything that’s on it, how do you use all the tools that are there?” he asks. “But we’re also making a publishing system that’s hooked up to a backend that’s moving every day. So it’s not all about art direction, it’s also about making a framework, a platform, that’s going to change over time, or daily.”
His solution – he’s careful to indicate that there’s still much polishing to perform ahead – already looks like it strikes the right balance between retaining the DNA of its predecessor, meeting the expectations of existing owners and adding intuitiveness for newcomers. Highly seductive in its own way, it’s clearly no attempt to emulate the desirability of the XMB. It’s smart and dynamic, visually restrained but also able to exhibit enough flamboyance to let the individual character of games or other content shine through. In short, it’s radical enough to make Xbox 360 feel like a whole new console.
Another new aspect of the dashboard that Microsoft is pushing is sociability enabled by Live. Whitten sums up Microsoft’s attitude to Live in that regard by saying: “It’s the largest social network that’s attached to the TV. That’s not a random PR line, it’s true.” And it’s hard to disprove – Xbox 360 is in a position that could move the idea of the social network, so popular in the guise of Facebook and MySpace, from the computer in the office to the TV in the living room. To Live’s existing suite of powerful social abilities Whitten and his team are introducing a system-wide party system.
“Today, the dashboard is a singleplayer experience whilst most of the games we talk about are multiplayer experiences,” he pitches. “Why isn’t the box powered by the same idea of me being able to connect with my friends, and stay with them and move through experiences with them?”
Tomorrow, we'll look in depth at some of the new community features and avatars, and we'll talk to the guys behind them.
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Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
I wish people would stop whining about an interface they haven't tried yet. "Oooh, it has avatars! The Wii has avatars! This is too kiddy!"- get over it. Avatars in my opinion add a lot to X-Box Live, especially in the way of personalization, something themes and backgrounds (all of which I'm not willing to pay for) don't. You can actually play online with these avatars in games like 1 vs. 100, which makes this more than just an aesthetic change, this is an upgrade.
So be a little more open-minded, and wait to try the damn thing before you bash it. It looks like it's simple and much more pleasing to the eyes than the current dashboard. Whether it actually is or not remains to be seen because I've seen very little about it so far, and I'm guessing most others who are so up-in-arms over the redesign have only seen that much too.
My first impression was that the avatars do look a bit juvenile. But you are right, we'll have to see. Depending on the creative freedom, it could be cool. But REAL individuality should be at play. If I want my avatar to be a perfectly round black ball with one eye and three hairs, then so be it. THAT would be very cool! And anything is doable! Aside from the avatar, the UI looks pretty slick. If Apple can do slick a slick UI, I think Microsoft should be allowed to.
I agree the new interface sucks. Its way too kiddy, while making it confusing where everything goes (ie playing a mp4 video file thats on the hdd - is it My Xbox 360 or in Videos?) They're changing the demographic. Each console has its specific demographic. Xbox360 is for hardcore gamers who want good games that just work. Playstation3 is for hackers and hardcore gamers who are betting on future titles (plus ppl who just want a blu-ray player). Wii is for nongamers and community gamers.
I'm so bummed out by this "PSwii-pple" interface. I HATE the PS3 XMB...words floating in space has never appealed to me. I liked the old blade system...but really, it's how they catagorize the selection on Marketplace that are the problem. Why is it SO HARD to find the Comic-Con content? Hidden inside "TV" is not the way to go. Even the banner takes you to a graphical interface that doesn't have everything. It also has buttons you click on and nothing happens (like in the Comedy Meets Horror section.)
This new interface along with the avatar feels so "kiddie" to me. I'm not a fan of the clean white Wii look. I love the dark, hard edge of the 360 blades where I have my own themes that take up the whole screen and have Carbon trim.
I think it's a good thing to change the way we experience Xbox, but ripping off 3 other looks from other companies and combining it together is NOT the answer.
Please just bring Live to South Africa allready.
Or at least let us pay in RANDS, not Pounds!
That way we can also download 18+ content ffs.
But the new blade thing is nice looking, lets hope it is not to bandwith heavy for us poor folks in Africa.
All of this isn't worth a dime in getting new users from non-gamer demographic if you have an Xbox controller in your hands. Nintendo knows how to do it - anyone can use and likes to use the Wiimote as a pointer to chose channels on the screen. It seems they forgot that the important component of the interface is not just what you see but how you interact with it as well. Or maybe they didn't and we'll soon see the Xmote?
To put it in a plain question: how many Facebook users would there be if they were forced to chose options by arrow keys while the competition is offering a mouse?
After reading the secrets of menu design article, it seems that Msoft knows what makes a good menu system, in terms of functionality at least. It's all about the community features and simplicity. However, while I like the new design over the clunky old one, I still prefer the XMB, solely based on its graphical style. When I see the new Xbox interface, I can easily see its a Msoft product, as it's somewhat flat and uneventful. Just look at the main selections, My Xbox, Community. It's simple text-based buttons the player scrolls with the controller. Function-wise, its simple, but in terms of looks, it's boring as all hell. As an avid tech-user, it's far from the designs that are supplied by Apple or Sony. Those two seem to have a better grasp on letting users navigate menus in style (I mean, just look at the iPhone's interface). But there's where my complaints stop, as not everyone is like me. For non-gamers, this may be all that and a bag of potato chips, as most people don't mind simple looking menus, as long as it gets them to where they want to go. So maybe Msoft is doing the right thing. I would like more style to go with that functionality, but again, this is Msoft we're talking about. Nothing is ever pretty from them:)
After looking at it more, the iTunes style album/game scrolling idea is pretty cool, but it's odd that every selection within a category is it's own "page". Meh, whatever, it's better than what we have now, so I shouldn't complain.
good menu design? sound more like a good apple rip off, MS keeps surprising us with nothing but recycled ideas from other companies... shame on them.
Here is thinking Microsoft would be better spending its 43 Yahoo billions on Facebook instead. Time to raise your stake in the FB thing from 5-10% (what it is today) to 51% (controlling stake). It goes beyond gaming. It's about software markets.
It won't change anything on the search wars front, but being the clear leader of the social networking phenomenon with two or three steps ahead of all wannabe competitors is quite a valuable asset for the future if you ask me. Cross-integration of Xbox Live with the Window Live suite (Messenger) and Facebook would achieve just that.
Then News Corp can sell its obsolete mySpace for a thousands bucks, while Sony keeps promising Home will unleash its full power "real soon".