Funny story.
I created Clippy [video]
21–30 of 35 posts
Re: I created Clippy [video]
#22The real interesting part about Clippy is not the cartoony art, but the fact that it actually would have been helpful if the project managers of office would not have gutted it: http://erichorvitz.com/lum.htm
Re: I created Clippy [video]
#23Clippy as a virtual assistant power by AI would work.
Re: I created Clippy [video]
#24Microsoft really missed an opportunity to bring back clippy when showing chat gpt integration in office/windows. It has deep nostalgia to a generation of computer users who are non-technical. People that were annoyed by it were either power users who wanted the machine to get out of their way, or learners who didn’t find it helpful. I think in this case it would have worked much better and simultaneously validated ea…
This would complete the time loop started when the LHC was first turned on and finally collapse our timeline back into the time vortex.
Re: I created Clippy [video]
#25Microsoft was already into drawn characters a few years earlier. Microsoft Comic Chat[1] was their take on how IRC should look like. It was quite popular for a short time and a bit annoying for users with other IRC clients. MS Comic Chat user sessions would send public messages upon joining channels: "# Appears as ANNA". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Comic_Chat
MS Comic Chat is long forgotten but it gave us Comic Sans which has amazing staying power.
Re: I created Clippy [video]
#26I would not really consider the illustrator being its "creator". Sure the illustration is an important part but the real interesting questions would probably be answered by its product manager.
Re: I created Clippy [video]
#27Was clippy that bad or is it something we just love to hate or pile on, but much like Nickelback, who cares, it’s easy to ignore / disable in clippy’s case? I really don’t remember as I was a teen when clippy came out. I liked the Merlin version fwiw.
Re: I created Clippy [video]
#28Plagiarizing a comment of mine from another post: In general, cutesy UIs are fun only the very first time you use them. But they’re a liability in the long term because once the novelty of the cuteness wears off, you risk really annoying your users, especially in high-stress scenarios. Expanding on that: Clippy is endearing now because it hasn't annoyed anyone for a decade+, but it was a real nuisance — difficult to…
Let's not forget we're talking about the 90's Microsoft. Cute or not they were bad at UI/UX, so bad that no guideline would help them.
You should see today's GUI. They are terrible.
Re: I created Clippy [video]
#29Microsoft really missed an opportunity to bring back clippy when showing chat gpt integration in office/windows. It has deep nostalgia to a generation of computer users who are non-technical. People that were annoyed by it were either power users who wanted the machine to get out of their way, or learners who didn’t find it helpful. I think in this case it would have worked much better and simultaneously validated ea…
Lol. Probably worried it would reproduce and become a paperclip maximiser.
Re: I created Clippy [video]
#30Microsoft was already into drawn characters a few years earlier. Microsoft Comic Chat[1] was their take on how IRC should look like. It was quite popular for a short time and a bit annoying for users with other IRC clients. MS Comic Chat user sessions would send public messages upon joining channels: "# Appears as ANNA". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Comic_Chat
Not sure where this falls on the timeline, but their well-trodden “wizard” UI pattern that uses a series of modal prompt dialogs to walk you through a process also used to be accompanied by a literal cartoon wizard.