Googles new browser, chrome
Written by SimonC
This might be a little off track for service-design, but I think its worth noting that Google is launching a new browser tomorrow, code named chrome. There are two reasons that I am commenting it here. Firstly, I think that the whole concept of what a browser is, needs rethinking. More and more, we are using browsers to complete complex dialogues as part of services, and we can see a gradual migration from applications that are run through the operative system to applications that are run within a browser. A tighter coupling between the browser and the application makes a lot of sense, and rethinking the browser concept is well overdue.
The second thing, which excited me just as much, was the fact that the launch was announced through a cartoon. Not an ordinary cartoon though, one drawn by the legendary Scott McCloud. McCloud is author of the book “understanding comics” (link) – a wonderful description of how comics work, presented as a comic in which he appears as a character to explain why comics work. This book is standard reading for all designers and service designers.
The comic strip is a very strong medium for evidencing new services, communicating service journeys, or for describing future service scenarios. It uses a standard language for communicating possible futures, and is an almost universally understood way of describing activities over time, in which emotional aspects can be included.
Have a look at the comic here and see for yourself.
Click on the image to see it full size.