Simplicity

Pawson’s Sackler Crossing wins Stephen Lawrence Prize

19 October 2008

This minimalist bridge at Kew Gardens dignifies its setting rather than dominates it. A lesson in measured, restrained design.

The features you have vs. the features you use

12 September 2008

Of the 21 features on my phone, I use just five. Can’t someone make a phone without all the rest?

Getting to Less part 2: Critically refocus

24 November 2007

(Back to part 1)
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?

Simplicity: The humble vernacular kitchen timer

24 November 2007

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?

Getting to Less part 1: How to keep what you need and chuck what you don’t

21 November 2007

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 [...]

Too much information