Interface

Demonstration of the Sugar user interface, reflecting the design vision behind the developing interface

The metaphor of a desktop is so entrenched in our consciousness, that it is easy to forget what a bold and radical innovation the Graphical User Interface (GUI) was, and how it helped free the computer from the "professionals" who were appalled at the idea of computing for everyone.

OLPC is revolutionising the existing concept of a computer interface.

Beginning with Seymour Papert's simple observation that children are knowledge workers like any adult, only more so; OLPC decided it needed a user-interface tailored to their specific type of knowledge work: learning. So, working together with teams from Pentagram and Red Hat, OLPC created Sugar, a "zoom" interface that graphically captures the world of fellow learners and teachers as collaborators - emphasising the connections within the community, among people, and their activities.

Activities

The XO laptop contains no software applications in the traditional sense. The XO instead focuses around "activities". More than a new naming convention, these activities represent an intrinsic quality of the learning experience children will have when using the laptop.

Presence Collaboration

Everyone has the potential to be both a learner and a teacher. In order to realise this potential, fundamental collaboration must exist. To facilitate this collaborative learning environment, the XO laptops have networking capabilities which allow them to interact with each other. By utilising this connectivity, every activity is able to be a networked activity.

As an example, consider the web-browsing activity found on the XO laptop. Normally one browses in isolation, perhaps on occasion sending a friend a favourite link. On the XO however, a link-sharing feature integrated into the browser activity transforms the solitary act of web-surfing into group collaboration.

The exchange of ideas among peers can make the learning process more engaging while stimulating critical thinking skills.

Expression

Based on the premise that we want to build upon people's fundamental knowledge in order to make connections to new information, our approach focuses on thinking, expressing, and communicating with technology.

The laptop is a thing to think with. We hope to make the primary activity of the children one of creative expression, in whatever form that might take. Thus, most activities will focus on the creation of some type of object, be it a drawing, a song, a story, a game, or a program. In another shift in the language used to describe the user experience, we refer to files as 'objects' of creative expression. The objectification of the traditional file system speaks more directly to real-world metaphors: instead of a sound file, we have an actual sound; instead of a text file, a story.

Journalling

A journal typically chronicles the activities one has done throughout the day. We have chosen to adopt a journal metaphor for the file system as our basic approach to file organisation.

In essence, the journal concept embodies the idea that the file system records a history of the things a child has done, or, more specifically, the activities in which a child has participated. The journal naturally lends itself to a chronological organisation (although it can be tagged, searched, and sorted by a variety of means). As a record of things a child has done - not just the things a child has saved - the Journal will read much like a portfolio or scrapbook history of the child's interactions with the machine and also with their peers.

The Journal combines entries explicitly created by the children with those that are implicitly created through participation in activities. The activities, the objects, and the means of recording are all tightly integrated to create a different kind of computer experience.