Why Life Can’t Be Simpler
We’d all like life to be simpler. But we also don’t want to sacrifice our options and capabilities. Tesler’s law of the conservation of complexity, a rule from design, explains why we can’t have both. …
Design
Knowledge Makes Everything Simpler
Operating a screw is pretty simple as John Maeda points out in The Laws of Simplicity: Just mate the grooves atop the screw’s head to the appropriate tip-slotted or Phillips-of a screwdriver. …
The Relationship Between Design and Planning
While I’m not all that interested in military doctrine and tactics in and of themselves, I am interested in complex systems, how the weak win wars, and the lessons military leaders offer (for …
Building a Business and Making Your Mark
Building the perfect business is about finding the balance between what you have to offer and what the world wants. In this post, we hear from Sebastian Thrun, co-founder of Udacity, about some of the …
The Book of Trees: Visualizing Branches of Knowledge
“There certainly have been many new things in the world of visualization; but unless you know its history, everything might seem novel.” — Michael Friendly *** It’s tempting to consider information …
Paying for Outcomes
Iconic typography designer Paula Scher discusses her creative process, including the famous Citi logo. Interestingly, the idea came to her in seconds and that presented a problem for the client. They …
TED Bookstore 2013
If you missed out on attending the famous TED conference this year — you’re not alone. But now you can queue up some of the books that were available at the TED Bookstore for your spring reading …
Steve Jobs on Design
Steve Jobs with an interesting perspective on what design means Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works. …
Donald Norman on the Two Types of Knowledge
An interesting excerpt from Donald Norman’s book The Design of Everyday Things on two types of knowledge. People function through their use of two kinds of knowledge: knowledge of and knowledge …