A presentation at Refresh Edinburgh in in Edinburgh, UK by Simon Collison
A philosophy of
Simon Collison Refresh Edinburgh | July 2012
restraint
Why call it a philosophy?
Design is messy
We design to communicate, and we seek emotive responses.
To delight someone is to give them a small lesson in seeing the world as something good. Frank Chimero, designer
A design aesthetic?
Minimal, lots of white space... and clean. Right?
www.foodsense.is
www.guardian.co.uk
www.webdesignerwall.com
Systems
We don’t design web pages. We design system s.
www.bbc.co.uk/gel
www.bbc.co.uk/gel
• Build a foundation for complexity • Devise a holistic approach for all projects • Devise a detailed project-specific system • Invest time in flexible pa ! ern libraries • Prepare for all eventualities
Embrace constraints
Having complete freedom is possibly the worst way to start any project.
Constraint is key to understanding complexity. Increase constraint and you create an ordered system; do that inappropriately and you create the conditions for catastrophic failure; remove constraint and the system is chaotic. Dave Snowden, The 5 C’s of Complexity
• Make sense of the constraints you’re given • Look for constraints you yourself can apply • Make constraints a feature or selling point
Exercising restraint
Responding to the problem in the simplest way possible.
• Immerse yourself in the subject • Design responses first, not a website • Discover what can be put to one side • Avoid misplaced vernacular and cliché
Simplicity and complexity
Less is more. Simple is be ! er. Right?
Unleash complexity in orchestrated phases, and increase power gradually.
• Good systems bear the weight of complexity • Embrace new methods for organising data • Find simplicity in the data flows • Don’t be afraid of obvious approaches • Release power gradually
Between the lines
Don’t underestimate humans. They can fill in the blanks.
Environment Experience Environment Others Me Instruction Interaction
The Arrival, by Shaun Tan
• Anticipate mental models • Reveal only what is necessary • Let users find their own stories • Embrace serendipity • Trust users to make sense of things
Affordance & typography
An affordance is a quality of an object, or an environment, that allows an individual to perform an action.
www.flightcardapp.com/
www.typekit.com
é é www.secondandpark.com/
• Understand the power of a ! ractiveness • Create obvious opportunities for interaction • Avoid unnecessary fakery and over-texturing • Don’t “iCal” the skeuomorphics • Use web type responsibly
Distraction
www.bbc.co.uk
www.icelandair.com/
www.jetblue.com/
• Use a clear hierarchy • Look for obvious clashes or fussy extras • Remove or lessen the impact of distractions • Avoid dozens of competing pa ! erns • Don’t disguise calls to action
Focus & context
Put the extraneous to one side. Focus on the task in hand, or add greater emphasis to stories.
www.thebolditalic.com/
www.gregorywood.co.uk /
• Design with context and tell the story • Allow users to focus • Split complex tasks into manageable chunks • Don’t compromise primary areas • Remove distractions at key times • Forms can always be simplified
Audit
A timely audit can prevent catastrophic failures, and shine new light on what you’ve learned.
• Add breathing space to your schedule • Make regular audits a part of your process • Be honest about shortcomings or failures • Never be afraid to rethink and rework
A final pause
Don’t launch. Instead, sit with your work, think about it. Sieve it down and give it space.
www.colly.com/
• Sit with your ‘finished’ work for some time • Stand back from it, find new perspectives • Seek valued opinion and feedback • Find things to throw away or reduce • Launch only when you are ready
This is my philosophy
delight / emotion / surprise systems / constraint / restraint simplicity / complexity / focus context / reduction
Thanks Simon Collison @colly
With a wealth of ideas and tools at our disposal, we often muddle our messages and complicate our code.
We appreciate that less is usually more, yet stuff our sites to bursting point, failing to be economical with what we have.
We must know when to stop, and when to throw things out. We should embrace simplicity and subtlety, and exploit the invisible.
Through timeless lessons and practical examples, learn how reduction and restraint can improve communication, emotion, and experience in our designs, with a philosophy applicable to every aspect of the systems we produce.
for free. You
can too.