Are you a sushi veteran? If so it is probably hard to remember your first few trips to a sushi bar. Looking at the names, wondering what to order. Nigiri, Onigiri, Temaki. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have an expert on hand to guide you step by step through your dinner order?
Phenomblue, a consultancy in Omaha Nebraska, has created a Microsoft Surface proof of concept application for a sushi bar. The application shows you the sushi items available on the menu (in a rich graphical way), lets you watch videos of the chef preparing the entry and simplifies the ordering process. Watch the video here.
Nice touches in the application
You can tell that a lot of work went into the UI for this application. Creating a Surface application forces you to rethink your UI design. There are many elements to consider, but l want to touch on two of them in this post.
Surface is a 360 degree environment. People can approach the Surface from from any side. A traditional top oriented UI will disappoint at least 75% of the people working at the table. In this app small wooden boats float in from opposite directions and stop in front of the user on either side of the table. Watch the user touch the boat, it sinks a little into the water.
Do not show help files. Surface applications strive for an immersive and intuitive experience. The application should lead the user through the learning process whenever possible. Observe what happens when the diner drags the sushi to the center platter.
First, a nice animation of a fan appears.
Then the orange slider moves up and down, showing the hungry diner how easily they can order five rolls instead of one. Nice attention to details. The key is that the application works with the patron by using animation in a practical way.
Kudos to Phenomblue.
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me: love sushi.