The Best Interface Is No Interface: The Simple Path to Brilliant Technology

9. Back Pocket Apps: This app goes perfectly with my skinny jeans

Embrace typical processes instead of screens. That’s the first principle of NoUI. It sounds straightforward. However, screen-based thinking has become so deeply entrenched into our culture that the interface inundation has even led to unexpected psychological outcomes. But fear not—smart designers and engineers are working on variants of apps—yes, apps—that embrace our typical processes. Apps that can live in your back pocket.

A few years ago, a doctor by the name of Michael Rothberg reached out to a colleague with a request. He was confident that something medically undocumented had happened to him. Disturbed, yet curious, Dr. Rothberg told his friend Dr. Ashish Arora about his ...