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September 26, 2007
Reflections on Maeda
I found it amusing that the week after we were given the Maeda reading assignment, he spoke in Red's Applications class and mentioned that he's discarded the "Simplicity method". However I'll respond to the reading as it stands on its own, and not to his statements afterwards.
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I found the reading to be a bit rough to read, like Maeda had this idea that he used to guide him but didn't really know what to say about it, and he didn't really think his audience was bright enough to understand anyhow. And he has this "SHE" mnemonic thing going on which doesn't really seem to match with the concepts he's discussing. For me the reading was like trying to drive down the highway in second gear; he makes it where he's trying to go, but it's a somewhat slow and aggravating process getting there, and there's a lot of jerkiness.
I also disagree that Shrinking, Hiding and Embodying actually simplify. In fact, his writing indicate the converse; that it actually complicates things but he recommends using these methods to paint over complexity and make users more forgiving of their shortcomings (the "if you're not getting what you want, try lowering your expectations" method). Of course he tells us this with the line "...anything that can make the medicine of complexity go down easier is a form of simplicity, even when it's an act of deceit," but I feel that sentence is the heart of a total bait-and-switch -- and we don't get to it until we're already well into the reading, under the impression his writing is supposed to be about making things easier on the user.
I think the chapter would read better if he just came out and said, "make things cute and small and the buttons hard to find, but find ways to make people think they're expensive and that's the secret to clever design."
Posted by Timothy at September 26, 2007 08:36 PM