Design, Citizenship and the City
Getting to Less is all about helping designers decide what to keep and what to throw out of their designs. Whether you’re designing software, websites, products or cities, you need to choose what to include and what to omit. But how?
Continue reading ‘Getting to Less part 2: Critically refocus’
Just twist and go.
No low-contrast LCD display.
No instruction booklet.
No learning curve.
No fiddly buttons.
No modes.
No batteries.
No battery cover to snap off or lose.
No battery changes.
No weedy digital beep-beep-beep.
£3 delivered.
This is simplicity. Does it really need to be any harder than this?
Simplicity is becoming an increasingly important trend in design. As life becomes faster-paced and we’re deluged with more choices, more information and more stuff, users and consumers are demanding that designers do the heavy lifting of making things more focussed, easier to learn, more refined.
The question for designers is “How?” How do we know when something is just right, and when it’s too much or not enough? How do we separate the essential from the peripheral? When do we stop?
Continue reading ‘Getting to Less part 1: How to keep what you need and chuck what you don’t’
You’d have to get up pretty early in the morning to put one over the system management software that comes with the Acer Aspire 9300.
A jack has been plugged in!
A jack has been unplugged!
Do you think I don’t realise already? Who’s the one doing the plugging and unplugging?
An important usability principle is to conserve the user’s attention. Let them focus on what matters most. Emphasise the main event, quieten the minor details and remove everything that simply doesn’t need to be shown.
For pity’s sake, don’t pop up a balloon just because I’ve plugged my headphones in.
Yesterday, the chancellor of the exchequer, Alistair Darling, made a statement to Parliament that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) had lost two data discs containing the personal details of 25 million UK citizens, including in many cases their banking details.The data is the complete database of all UK families with children, and includes names, addresses, dates of birth and the details of 7.25 million bank accounts. The head of HMRC, Paul Gray, has resigned.