Every so often you stumble across one of those truly original interface ideas. The other day I was researching the HaXe programming language and I came across the portfolio site for Ruy Adorno written entirely in HaXe and targeted to the Flash platform.

The idea has quite an appealing aspect and novel way to present information. Ruy's site is a good illustration of the UI concept of "free interactions".

From Chris Noessel:

"One free interaction" is a prospective design pattern that gives software and hardware a more humane feel. It exists outside of task flows and the concept of users as task-doers. Instead it sits in the "in between" spaces, suiting users as fidgeters, communicators, and people who play with things.

Ruy's site with the little blocks that can be thrown around the screen at will seem to fit the principle. These blocks don't provide more efficient interaction. They won't allow you to drill down to a particular portfolio example as fast as possible. But they offer something else. They offer an effective "playability" to the interface. Ruy's goal was to encourage more interaction and with his portfolio add an inherent stickiness that kept visitors interested long enough to review as much of his portfolio as possible. When I first visited the site I found myself just idly throwing the blocks around casually exploring various examples of his portfolio. Normally, i wouldn't spend this much time on a website made by a guy I don't even know half way around the world. But I found the interface works well.