Over at Platform Nation there is a very interesting article about what could be done to improve the Xbox 360 dashboard, thus creating Dashboard 2.0. You can see a mock-up of the Marketplace blade above, including eye-popping images for XBLA games. Even better, the games have user ratings and the prices are listed right on the front page, no need to click through to see how much a game costs. There are a number of other improvements, including the ability to hotkey areas you use often (XBLA, Marketplace, etc). The article goes into detail about where the current dashboard has problems and what can be done to address them (right down to cleaning up completely unused space). It's really a good read and we suggest you check it out. We can only hope that someone at Microsoft is paying attention.
[Thanks Alex Fischer and Gemini Ace. Via Joystiq]
[Thanks Alex Fischer and Gemini Ace. Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-01-2008 @ 4:52PM
Rick said...
Looks a lot cleaner and more straightforward. This would definitely be a better way of navigating.
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7-01-2008 @ 6:02PM
WTangoFoxtrot said...
I doubt MS would do it, it doesnt leave them with enough room to place their adverts and stuff.
7-01-2008 @ 4:54PM
Chase said...
That is a nice, functional design, and sure beats the present single blade design. And the ability to sort Arcade content would eliminate the need for Microsoft's half-assed "delisting."
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7-01-2008 @ 4:56PM
Tony said...
This is honestly pretty brilliant. It takes some of the better aspects of the Wii's system (user voting) and adds in some of the better aspects of PSN.
I really feel that many of MS's current issues stem from the organization of the blades. They worked early on, but there's so many things in the system now that it just doesn't work well. MS itself admitted this with the whole XBLA delisting thing.
I'd love to see this and I'd love to see some sort of Web site counterpart. It'd be great if we could browse these things, order them, queue them up for download next time we turn on the 360, allon our computers using a point and click system we're so familiar with thanks to other stores like iTunes or Amazon.
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7-01-2008 @ 5:09PM
aaron said...
I would also like to see xbox.com have some sort of webpage we can go to where we can purchase and schedule downloads. We already have the basic page already setup for the movies. Would not take much to apply it to all other content on the xbox.
As for this design. Overall it has alot of great points and hopefully ms takes note and does some of them. The search, ratings/reviews of all content, reduction of wasted space, etc.
I do like the more graphical look to the marketplace. That would be a huge improvement over the current system.
7-01-2008 @ 5:25PM
Josh said...
I agree there. We should be able to buy from the computer as well as the console. The way Bungie did the user content in Halo 3 should be used as an example, just get rid of the freaking 10 queue limit.
7-03-2008 @ 6:30AM
Boff said...
I have to agree. Setting things to download from the PC (a la Bungie.net) would be a brilliant move.
Also, I thought the limit was 6 items in the queue?
7-01-2008 @ 4:59PM
Arnon said...
O_O Whoa... I would so want that for my new dashboard.. It looks clean, easy navigation, etc. If this is the actual MS response to HOME than this is just fine. This would actually do better than Avatars '>.>
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7-01-2008 @ 5:04PM
Arnon said...
And yes, I know it's a fake XD..
7-01-2008 @ 5:04PM
Jon said...
really is a better design then what we have currently with more space for the USER when purchasing themes they might actually get to see the themes that they buy.
just really need to ease up on the advertising also on the xbox live tab, i understand the marketplace for a place for ads to sell stuff.
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7-01-2008 @ 5:07PM
Velorium said...
The only issue with this would be that they're limited to how big the firmware can be (I forget if it's 4mb, 8mb or 16mb. I'll go with the latter.) otherwise if they can't pull it off for the 360, the 720.
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7-01-2008 @ 5:11PM
aaron said...
i think we may know something related to this at e3... if the rumors are true the hard drive issue could be going away (and would give more creedence to a major redesign)... but we will know more when ms makes their announcements at e3.
7-01-2008 @ 5:26PM
Velorium said...
True, but there's a flash chip inside the xbox that holds the firmware, not the hard drive, so the space restriction for the interface would still remain an issue
7-01-2008 @ 5:34PM
aaron said...
my point is more along the lines of a major renovation would do away with the ram version of the os. well more like take some things off the ram portion. just have the base os and the background xbox guide portion be on the ram and move everything else to the hard drive. since really the only thing we need running all the time is the xbox guide and core os.
a hard drive is more than fast enough to run what it would be needed to but they couldnt do it because of the arcade unit.
but all of this is predicated on the removal of the arcade unit which we will know one way or the other in a few weeks.
7-01-2008 @ 5:11PM
stukorn said...
simply wonderful,m lets hope they do take note now and not wairt till the 720
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7-01-2008 @ 5:18PM
Neon Jebus said...
While I appreciate the level of detail Mike has used to offer his idea, I can't help but think it feels a little too busy. If the blades were left alone but his ideas for information display were used I think he would be money. And I'm a BIG fan of the reversal of advertising he mentions. There's way too much currently.
I'm not too sure about the search function. A good idea in theory but I wonder if such an option would be used all that much?
As for the dashboard access in the upper left area, it pretty much kills the sweeping animation from blade to blade. I'm sure the idea is that the information sweeps out from the area selected (perhaps like minimized items in the OS X dock).
Mike offers some interesting ideas on information display and flow from area to area. I would think that his tabbed display could be a natural extension to the 'twist' method Microsoft currently uses.
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7-01-2008 @ 5:20PM
Neon Jebus said...
sorry mik not mike.
7-01-2008 @ 5:19PM
jbrumleve said...
I seriously question this design actually. Its nice visually, but from a usability standpoint, there are WAYYYY too many things to select and too many directions (up, down, left, right) that your cursor can wind up at. To me, this is a very very frustrating looking design from the usability standpoint, not from an aesthetic standpoint. This dashboard design looks like it was designed for mouse point and click, NOT moving a selection box with your controller. I'm a bit worried that I'd have to break out an instruction manual and look up the controls on how to navigate the dashboard with that design. Its just too much to look at, and works for the web, but not for the dashboard due to the controller limitations. Just my opinion as a fellow graphic designer. Great LOOKING work though! A++
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7-01-2008 @ 5:25PM
jbrumleve said...
Also I forgot to add that opting for a widescreen format and scaling it down for users that use a 4:3 aspect ratio is a no-no. I play on a 17" monitor and I wouldn't be able to even ready the movie titles sitting 5 feet away from my screen. I realize this is a work in progress, but I actually prefer the clunky unorganized dashboard that MS already has to this more "aggravating" alternative.
7-01-2008 @ 5:41PM
tomoguisuru said...
You know what kills me? Is the fact that they have dedicated more to Advertisements than to user space and we still have to pay to use Live. Can anyone say double dipping?
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