The Bloomberg interface is a cognitive artefact which is a part of any stockbrocker’s life. Unfortunately, it’s interface is still stuck in the 80s:
Notice the stark contrast of the terminal’s ultramodern design with the clunky interface. The people at Portfolio noticed this too, and asked three design firms to explore the redesign of the Bloomberg interface (via UX magazine). The results are interesting in that they express different paths in the design space. The happycorp design focuses on social aspects of trading and gadgets (Wii remote). The IDEO one is based on the tried and true principles first posed by Tufte (it is very easy on the eyes), along with a plethora of information appliances (i.e. gadgets) of questionable value like digital post-its. Ziba’s design is information sparse and replaces the keyboard with a puck.
What’s interesting is that none of the designs (except perhaps IDEO’s), seem to be based on a study of the trader’s needs: no trader would waste real estate on golfing! It seems that design firms are only focused on making something that looks good; after all this is how they are judged. As one commenter on UX magazine put it:
While all of the designs here are aesthetically pleasing, they all need to look a bit harder at the cognitive ergonomics needed to support rapid information processing and decisive decision-making. Substance over form is important here. Don’t be fooled by pixel-magic.
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