Ever since the first graphical user interface (GUI) a lot of computer applications have been designed to be similar to their analog counterparts. Good, all users already understand how trash cans and folders work. Bad, the analog world has shortcomings and advantages not present in digital devices.
The best example of a failure to transfer the analog analogy? The calendar. Calendar software is pretty uninspired when it comes to design; they’re things you’re more likely to see on a Best Buy spec-list than anything drool worthy. The problem is that it is laid out exactly like your typical wall calendar. And not just one specific company has this problem, every piece of software looks like the next. At least the calendar hanging in your cubical is limited in its design, usually one, unchanging page per month.
“Don’t touch that dial… and if your TV has dials: get a new TV.” —Stephen T. Colbert
These calendars are fine for today, but when you want to keep up to date of what’s coming up in your schedule, you lose a little each day. The number of days you can see ahead shrinks everyday, and the next month is always limited to showing a maximum of six days; possibly zero.
Forget that months start and end, forget that weeks end and the weekend starts. You only need to know where you are now and how long it is until your next scheduled event is. Just because the month has ended, doesn’t mean tomorrow isn’t still less than 24 hours away.
Quickly scanning the old calendar and you see what’s when, but not what’s now. That important event is always on the bottom right, never moving, never seeming to get closer. “You” always move, and it can be hard to find where you are. Events should approach you, not you to them.
My idea is to keep today in one, constant place, and let the world of your schedule move around you. If something is in the top-right corner of my calendar, that means it’s six days away, no matter what day it is today. And when it’s the last day of the month, you aren’t staring at a page full of past events, but a screen full of what you’re going to do in the coming month.
Also, most calendars have three separate views: Today, this week, and this month. Why not combine them into one view? Cut it into thirds to display the current 24 hours, the next week (not including today), and the next month (not including this week). Events a month away don’t matter on an hourly basis and meetings today need to be much more specific than just “today.” Exponentially display the calendar, because that’s how we all see it anyway (unless, of course, we’re scheduling a new event, but that’s more in-depth than a quick scan).
These are the things I think about when I look at my calendar. ∞
