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litl web book
"a design miracle"Cooper worked with the amazing folks at
litl, as well as fuseproject, Fort Franklin
and Pentagram to deliver a new kind of
portable device—a "personal computer"
re-imagined as a portable device
optimized for home use. Our efforts were
focused on the design of the operating system's
interaction language, and we closely
collaborated with litl's design team and
development team to arrive at a truly
different, widely praised product. -
Conversational, friendly, whimsical
Our work began with hands-on consumer research. This allowed us to deeply explore the needs and expectations of a true "family" computer – browsing the web, watching videos, looking at photos, and sharing. Most of all, the device needed to feel different. We knew that it had to be conversational and friendly, with a liberal dose of whimsy.
Read more about the whimsy in this Journal article about our work.
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Sharing & connecting
The litl was designed to be shared among a group of people. Our design work focused on creating ways to share content and connect to others, and getting away from the various annoyances and obstacles in current devices.
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A "radical departure"
When it debuted in November of 2009, many commentators were deeply impressed by the device. As with all "radical departures," as Walter Mossberg called it, it was also met with some doubt as to whether its new mechanisms would be too "new" for users. Still, many rallied to praise its innovative elements.
Fast Company called litl "a design miracle... litl is designed around how people actually use their computers in the home ... The OS, therefore, is dead simple, and utterly devoid of clutter."
Mossberg reviewed the litl on his blog, All Things D, and referred to the UI as "bold" and "refreshing."
litl also won an IDEA Bronze award for interactive product experience. Here's what the judges had to say about the litl user interface: "Designed to remove the barriers between you and web content, it is extremely simple to use and eliminates the clutter and distractions of traditional computer interfaces."
