Tubes Experience Redesign
peer-to-peer file sharing desktop app + browser experience
peer-to-peer file sharing desktop app + browser experience
In 2007 I worked for the startup company Tubes at 1 Liberty Square in Boston. The simple and elegant file sharing desktop client created a lot of buzz in the previous 2 years and I was fortunate enough to be brought on board to work with the development team to iteratively bring the experience into the Web 2.0 realm. An additional initiative to incorporate social web interactivity and a more modern look to the app allowed me to quickly dive in and innovate despite the inherent tension between a typical user's goal to keep shared files private and the business' need to create a more engaging, socially-driven interactive online paradigm.
Desktop App Experience
a Mac-like icon representing a cylindrical capsule from an old-fashioned pneumatic tube system sits on the desktop ( above left ) ... dragging a file onto the tube capsule would create a short animated sequence, providing important cues to the user regarding their file upload to the tube network ... once the user hovers over the desktop icon, the rest of the app interface pops open to reveal affordances to link, email or embed the tube ( above right )
Clicking on affordance to link, email or embed your tube reveal relevant forms and menus to allow users the ability to easily share the file contents of their tube out on the interwebs.
When a user clicks on the Tubes icon ( the 'T' in the lower right of the desktop widget or app ), the widget flips over to reveal a spreadsheet-like list of all the contents of the tube and provide the user the ability to select and delete files right from the desktop. Clickng the Tubes icon again will flip the widget back to the front of the app.
Browser Experience
The public-facing iTube Profile for the user 'Techno' out on the TubesNow Network
Once signed into your iTube, users see how their embedded Tubes Widget will appear 'out there' on the interwebs ( on the left ), read relevant statistical updates ( middle column ) and also be able to upload new files, invite friends and colleagues or embed the Tubes Widget ( easy nav toward the upper right ).
You can view and edit your TubesNow files from the Tubes Widget, the Tubes File List or directly from your TubeSite.
The Tubes File List displays all of the files in your current Tube with a spreadsheet-like presentation. Here users can upload and delete files or share their files via link, email or newly embedded instances of the Tubes Widget.
Invite friends and colleagues to share the files in your Tube.
