Both Google and Evernote offer an online tool for managing notes. This isn’t a review of each product’s capabilities, but an observation on their UIs. Evernote commits way too much real estate to administrative UI debris. I get a full 10.5 lines of writable space on a 800px high display. The rest is taken up by browser chrome and the note’s title, date, attributes, action bar, source, and terms of conditions.
Compare the following pictures showing the vertical space of each. In each, the usable real estate is highlighted. Both show the most fully maximized view that each offers.
Evernote:
Google notebook:
But that’s an unfair comparison you might say–the Google notebook is clearly taller.As I mentioned earlier, I was giving each the benefit of the doubt, showing the largest online view possible. Google offers a breakout version that strips off the unnecessary chrome and actions, leaving more space devoted to supporting the core function–taking notes.
On May 20, 2008, Todd posted this entry in User Experience, Information Architecture, Usability, Interaction, Interface.
I just came across this on www.dusteddesign.com. In their tag navigation, the length of the link tag is proportional to the number of articles it contains. I can’t say this works, or that I’d employ it, but it’s interesting and I applaud their thinking.
Oomblog is a stream of thoughts, ostensibly focused on user experience.
