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Tools to design PC-UIs with better ergonomics
We have been exploring the areas of PC user interface design and developer tool design since our last company Khitchdee Technologies. We have developed a new PC-UI design approach and been developing developer tools for several years. We are now producing an SDK for our new UI-design technology and an efficient developer tool for using this SDK.

InterUnit-UI A UI is defined as a sequence of time-sliced "interface-units" called InterUnits, with each InterUnit presenting an interface behaviour to service a specific user-goal. It is an ergonomically efficient alternative to WIMP that reduces cognitive load.

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Ergonomix Ergonomix is an app for developing PC-UIs using the InterUnit-UI SDK. It has an efficient source-code editor that is being designed to showcase the efficiency of InterUnit-UI for a developer. Developers who are used to WIMP based UI-design will find it easy to switch.

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The Paradigm
InterUnit-UI is a temporal approach to graphical UI design that does not use the spatial concept of Windows.

A UI is a sequence of time-sliced "interface-units" called InterUnits. Each InterUnit presents an interface behaviour to service a specific user-goal, and has full control over the screen and all user-input peripherals. A customisable device-specific app called the EngagementManager orchestrates the loading and unloading of InterUnits, and maintains some memory of the user's interaction with InterUnits from the point it is loaded.



InterUnit-UI SDK Licensing (planned) Khitchdee Design is applying for copyright and intellectual property protection for InterUnit-UI technology. Our intellectual property attorneys are Mendelsohn Dunleavy, PC.



Non-commercial Use Ergonomix will be made available free for non-commercial use.

Individual Developer Licenses An individual developer may license Ergonomix for an annual license fee.

Team Licences A small development team (<10 people) may also license Ergonomix for an annual license fee. A single team license may be used by all members of a team. Larger organisations and universities can license Ergonomix at negotiated annual rates.

OEM Licences OEMs may license the InterUnit-UI SDK to develop UI front-ends for any PC or mobile device (e.g. Android Linux Desktop, Raspberry-Pi). These licenses will be negotiated and on a per seat basis.



Existing WIMP based UI-design tools UI-development tools based on WIMP are all mature and widely used. Each of the tools listed below targets a UI-design framework based on WIMP.

VisualStudio (Microsoft).

Platform: Windows.
Targets .NET or Win32, both WIMP based frameworks.
$1200 annual subscription.



Xcode (Apple).

Platform: MacOS.
Targets Cocoa, a WIMP based framework.
Free.



CLion (JetBrains).

Platform: Linux.
Targets GTK-4, a WIMP based framework.
$300 annual subscription.



Smartphone-based InterUnit-UI showcase platform (planned) The primary functions of any graphical user interface are selection, timed-execution, text-input and content description. Content description using a GUI is a good way to validate its efficiency.

We plan to showcase InterUnit-UI by demonstrating The Specifier (an MCAD app). The primary function of the Specifier is a (visual) description of 3D objects, or processes relating to 3D objects. Hence it's a good way to validate the usage-efficiency of this planned platform.

Platform description The planned platform has the following components:

  • An iPhone 15 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S25 or Motorola Signature smartphone
  • An HP E14 G4 FHD screen
  • An Apple keyboard with numeric keypad
  • A specially designed cradle for the smartphone.



Illustration



The A17 Pro SOC (iPhone 15 Pro) Apple's A17 pro SOC contains a 3.78 GHz ARM ISA based microprocessor, a 6-core graphics engine and a 6.4GHz DDR4 memory interface. It's a well designed low power SOC that can easily be used in a desktop design environment. It can drive a 4k screen at 30Hz and has enough processing power for graphics intensive applications (that have high computational requirements).



The Snapdragon 8 SOC (Android) Qualcomms's SnapDragon 8 SOC.



The HP E14 G4 screen This is a 14" FHD portable screen. It has a small built-in battery and a well designed hinge that folds open to a 78 deg screen-angle. 2 USB-C input ports for charging or display data. We use a small Xiaomi 4900 mAh Powerbank to keep the screen charged and an AirPlay receiver dongle to connect to it wirelessly.



The Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad This is a lightweight, compact form-factor keyboard. It connects wirelessly over Bluetooth. USB-C charging port. It is the same width as : and half the height of : the HP G14 E4 screen. The numeric keypad adds full size arrow keys which are used as part of InterUnit-UI design-conventions.