July 2010
2 posts
3 tags
4 tags
Vehicle Key Fob Design - A Follow-Up
Earlier this year I posted about the incredibly flawed design of the Lexus key fob. Fortunately, I stumbled upon the antithesis. Last week I rented a Nissan Altima, and this is its key fob:
Lock, un-lock (with little bumps to feel for in the dark), trunk (hold to open), and panic. Simple, straightforward, no ambiguity.
June 2010
2 posts
4 tags
Battery Hand Wall Clock
Really clever, if somewhat unfeasible, idea for a wall clock. Use the batteries as the hour and minute hands:
I question how fast the batteries would run down if they have to power the weight of their own rotation. Regardless, an elegant idea.
(via Gizmodo and The Wrong Objects).
2 tags
May 2010
5 posts
4 tags
Simplified Privacy Controls on Facebook
I’m digging Openbook’s proposal for simplifying privacy controls on Facebook: place a “Privacy Slider” on every user’s homepage, ranging from completely private to completely open.
Clicking on the slider invokes a popup which breaks down the privacy settings and allows for more granular control (if desired). I think this is a nice, transparent solution… and...
3 tags
5 tags
The $0.69 iPad Stand
drewvigal:
Bought a wireless keyboard today to eventually replace the iPad Keyboard Dock I ordered online with my iPad. One really should try out a product before buying peripherals. But what I was really looking for was a stand that kept my iPad upright in either landscape or portrait. Neither the Keyboard Dock nor the iDock does this… granted, those do charge the iPad while docked. And I saw...
2 tags
Never Miss the Key Hole
Clever.
7 tags
OneZero: Parsons DT Thesis Symposium
The Design and Technology department at Parsons (of which I am an alum) is holding their second annual thesis symposium this weekend, titled OneZero. I had the privilege of seeing a few of the talks and checked the gallery out this Saturday. The show is described by the students as a “way of sharing research and work as designers, programmers, developers, gamers, storytellers, animators and...
April 2010
4 posts
3 tags
Simplicity isn't that simple
52weeksofux:
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” —Leonardo Da Vinci
Simplicity, by definition, is freedom from complexity; the absence of luxury or pretentiousness. Sophistication, on the other hand, often implies a sense of style, cultivated beauty and refinement. So is Da Vinci contradicting himself here?
On the contrary. I believe the ultimate level of sophistication happens when...
3 tags
Elegance and The Art of Less
Matthew E. May:
The singular thought that what isn’t can often be as or more powerful than what is presented me with a completely different view of the world. In fact, it offered an altogether unique reality—and a life-changing one at that. I embarked on the journey I’m still on, in search of solutions that derive maximum effect from minimum means, ideas that are elegant by virtue of their...
8 tags
Wieden + Kennedy for Nike
The blogosphere et al. has been buzzing in the past couple days about a new Nike spot for Tiger Woods, by Portland based ad agency Wieden + Kennedy. In case you haven’t seen it already:
Predictably, the extreme simplicity appeals to me here. Personal opinions about the man aside, I think the commercial is pitch perfect, which is quite a feat considering the circumstances. I seem to...
5 tags
The iPad User Manual
How you know a product is easy to use: when the ‘user manual’ is a single index card.
5 tags
Bloodbuzz Ohio
A track off the forthcoming album from The National is available as a free download from their website. I really like the way they’ve presented the download options, being as blunt and transparent as possible. Want the 192 kbps version? Download here. Want a bit higher quality plus some artwork? Well, we’re gonna need your email first. Simple and straightforward.
Granted, there...
March 2010
2 posts
7 tags
37signals
I’ve been meaning to make this post for some time, and their new book, Rework, has eliminated any excuse not to. 37signals is, according to Wikipedia, “a web design company with a self-described focus on usability, simplicity, and clarity in design and writing.”
Both of their books, Getting Real (available for free online) and Rework are essential reads if you are looking for a...
February 2010
4 posts
5 tags
Simple Watches (A Reprise)
I’ve made a couple posts about simple watches in the past, and a new one recently caught my eye, from designer Denis Guidone:
I can’t imagine a watch being any simpler, and yet retain its core functionality. One could argue that the center dot could be removed, but I believe it’s essential; otherwise, the brain cannot draw the invisible line from the center to the hour or...
3 tags
Flavors.me
I love the simplicity of this new personal “web-hub” service, Flavors.me. Essentially, it acts as a homepage for an individual, in which they can plug in all of their various online personas (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc) to collect in one spot. Check out the directory to see the cool designs people have created from a very simple toolset. It might finally be time to ditch my...
6 tags
Google Chrome OS Tablet Demo
I have posted previously about Google’s Chrome OS, their move to create a simplified, browser-based operating system. In the whirlwind of the iPad announcement, it seems they wanted to ride the tablet wave (see what I did there?) and released a few conceptual screen shots and demo video. One in particular caught my attention. Look familiar?
5 tags
Movie Posters for Minimalists
Twitter user Wearepedistal sent me a link to an excellent collection of minimalist movie posters by Jamie Bolton, and it inspired me to put a post together with a few sets I have found over the years.
Jamie Bolton - Shoot the Glass. The big standout here is the Back to the Future trilogy, very clever. Extra points if you can name all of the years the dots designate.
Oily Moss. Created all...
7 tags
Typing on the iPad
The issue of how to input text into the iPad has been a heated discussion both before and after the device was announced. Obviously, without having the tablet in hand, no one knows how easy or cumbersome it will be to enter text. I actually believe that typing in landscape mode, using both hands as on a full size keyboard, will be a perfectly adequate way to enter even lengthy messages. The on...
January 2010
4 posts
5 tags
The iPad
Steven Frank has the best article I’ve read about what the introduction of the iPad means to personal computing over on his blog. A choice passage:
The bet is roughly that the future of computing: - has a UI model based on direct manipulation of data objects - completely hides the filesystem from the user - favors ease of use and reduction of complexity over absolute flexibility -...
7 tags
Vehicle Key Fob Design
I had the distinct privilege of driving a Lexus the other day and was startled by how poorly designed the buttons on the key fob were, especially considering the “high end” nature of the vehicle itself.
The most notable infraction here is the double duty the top button is performing for both Lock and Panic. I instinctively didn’t want to press the button that most commonly...
3 tags
It's the Small Stuff, Pt. 1
I’ve been staying at my folks’ house over the holidays, and I’ve yet to discover any rhyme or reason to the light switches. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve inadvertently turned on the fan, rather than the light, in the bathroom. It seems logical and natural to me to have the light nearest to the doorway, so, from a user perspective, it’s the first switch...
December 2009
5 posts
4 tags
Check Splitting at Kerbey Lane
I recently had breakfast with a group of friends at Austin’s Kerbey Lane and was delighted to see how they solved the frustration of check splitting. As you can see in the images below, the bill, by default, is broken up into price totals for each individual seat. It seems like a simple adjustment to the formatting of the receipt (which it is), but it made paying the bill a breeze.
It makes...
6 tags
TeuxDeux
I love this new web app for creating and maintaining To-Do lists. I’ve been searching for a really good cloud based list manager, and I think this one may be it. I love that this is explicitly stated in the FAQ:
Can you add feature x to TeuxDeux?
We’ve tried really hard to keep the app simple and so we are going to be quite rigorous about which features we add to it going forward.
...
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Speaking of Watches
Another post about simplified watches from Dezeen, this time about a watch sans minute hand:
Defakto is a young brand established at the beginning of the year 2009. We have made it our objektive to redefine the feeling of time by the creation of a mechanic single hand watch. Within this form the single hand principle is unique. We build place our confidence on understatement and stand for a new...
4 tags
Watches by Uniform Wares
I’m digging these super simple watches from Uniform Wares.
“Uniform Wares products have an intentionally paired down form that is characterized by distinct colour; this helps define their purpose, how they are used, what for and by whom,” says company co-founder and designer, Patrick Bek.
I would argue that some of the tick marks could be removed (really only needing marks at 3, 6, 9,...
5 tags
Senduit
These file sharing services may be falling by the wayside now that email attachment sizes are growing and services like Dropbox and Drop.io are flourishing, but I love the simplicity of Senduit. Especially in comparison to other similar services, such as YouSendIt.
In spite of the delightful simplicity, however, there are still a couple things that could be improved upon. The default expiration...
November 2009
9 posts
4 tags
Thanksgiving Special: The Design of Pie Tins
I don’t bake very often so this might be commonplace, but I found these pie crust tins to be pretty nifty.
When you purchase the crust, it is lined by a solid piece of plastic. It is removed by crimping up the edges of the tin.
After the pie is finished, the plastic piece is inverted and placed on top, now functioning as a cover if the pie is stored. Nice.
6 tags
Correction: Smultron Touch is Really OS X Touch
I posted a few days ago about a nice little UI touch in the menu for Smultron, in which an additional bit of metadata is added to duplicate file names in the Open Recent menu to help distinguish them.
Well, after receiving a friendly email from Benjamin Stiglitz over at Apple, it turns out that this is an OS X wide behavior. Any app written in Cocoa and running in OS X will do this...
3 tags
Google Chrome OS
The big news this last week has been Google giving a sneak peak of their new operating system, Google Chrome OS. It’s already been dissected at great length on the internets, but I think there are some interesting things going on here from a simplicity standpoint.
The video below gives a great introduction to what the OS is all about:
The key take-away here is that Google is...
4 tags
A Nice Menu Touch in Smultron
I stumbled upon this today and thought it was great. Smultron is, according to Wikipedia, “an open source text editor for Mac OS X that is designed for both beginning and advanced users.”
I needed to open a recent file, in this case index.html, and was delighted to see how the repeated file names were given an additional bit of data (the folder where they reside) to help distinguish...
7 tags
Texting in the Foreground - A Follow-up
Just a quick follow up to Monday’s post:
Several people, including Mr. Gruber and Twitter user dillinger23 proposed a UI in which the user replies directly in the modal dialog to a text message. I had some hesitation with this for a couple reasons: 1) not enough real estate for longer text messages, and 2) lack of an ability to view the entire conversation. After comping it up, however, I...
6 tags
Running iPhone Apps in the Foreground
Much has been written about the iPhone’s lack of ability to run third party apps in the background, a limitation that has likely been imposed to conserve CPU, RAM, and battery. This is something that will undoubtedly be made possible with a future hardware upgrade (potentially as early as the next iPhone), but in the meantime, are there any ways to improve the user experience with only a...
4 tags
The Laws of Simplicity
This blog would not be off to a proper start without giving a nod to John Maeda. Maeda’s book, The Laws of Simplicity, continues to be a huge influence on the way I approach design problems, and was one of the inspirations for creating this blog. If you haven’t read it I can’t recommend it enough.
Below is Maeda’s TED talk from a couple years ago, in which he discusses...
4 tags
A Tale of Two Mice
These two mice were announced / released mere weeks apart:
Apple’s Magic Mouse:
Open Office’s OOMouse:
Apparently the latter is not a joke.
It should be made clear, however, that minimalism does not necessarily equate to simplicity. But seriously.
3 tags
The Pencil
There is an old joke, or urban myth if you look at it another way, that goes something like this:
When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface, and at...