OK, this fits my impression of designers and the graphic design industry perfectly. It’s a story from Michael Bierut’s first job internship.

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In FastCompany’s Nov 2005 issue, Linda Tischler wrote an article on simplicity and the drive to make all kinds of products — from magazines (Real Simple) and web interfaces (Google) to tech gadgets (iPod) — simpler and more user friendly. I love this trend.

The article posits this equation, waiting to be proven:
T (technology) + E (ease of use) = $

Google’s research shows that users remember just 7 to 10 services on rival sites. So Google offers a miserly six services on its home page. By contrast, MSN promotes more than 50, and Yahoo, over 60. And both sell advertising off their home pages; Google’s is a commercial-free zone.

This is great advice. And Linda also quotes Joe Duffy quoting Milton Glaser, “Less isn’t more; just enough is more.” Just enough is very hard to do, but it defines good design and differentiates a poor user experience from a great user experience.

You’ve got to check this out. A new study out of Canada that says users can judge the aesthetics of a web site in the first 50 milliseconds.

Lindgaard and her team presented volunteers with the briefest glimpses of web pages previously rated as being either easy on the eye or particularly jarring, and asked them to rate the websites on a sliding scale of visual appeal. Even though the images flashed up for just 50 milliseconds, roughly the duration of a single frame of standard television footage, their verdicts tallied well with judgements made after a longer period of scrutiny.

Wow, that’s fast. And no, this isn’t about comprehension, but rather about the first flash judgements and prejudging that your mind makes.

Tim O’Reilly has an excellent article, called What Is Web 2.0 — Netscape as a Web 1.0 company, focusing on selling server software, and Google as a Web 2.0 company that began life as a web application. Good articles, good criteria on what embracing the principles of Web 2.0 can mean.

“… never sold or packaged, but delivered as a service, with customers paying, directly or indirectly, for the use of that service. None of the trappings of the old software industry are present. No scheduled software releases, just continuous improvement. No licensing or sale, just usage …”

– Tim O’Reilly on Google as Web 2.0 company

There a great article over at A List Apart by Cameron Moll (a designer I admire highly), essentially on the motivations to redesign a website. “The desire to redesign is aesthetic-driven, while the desire to realign is purpose-driven.” Does your web site need a complete overhaul and a fresh new look and layout? Or does it simply need a slight adjustment, to better align the presentation of key messages and key priorities. What’s your motivation? Is it simply because your site design is more than 150 days old? Or is it because market forces, or your understanding of your marketplace, has changed, and you need to align your marketing efforts to the expectations and needs of your customers?

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
– Michael Porter, Havard Business Review article, “What is Strategy?“