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Keith Hopper
Exploring the concepts of creativity, invention, and play from the user-perspective. Topics: user innovation, distributed authorship, design analysis, democratized creativity, DIY, and creative collaboration.
In our prior post, we mentioned that simple objects are more engaging, but how exactly does simplicity do this? A better understanding of the specifics behind simplicity for engagement will allow designers to not just deliver less to reduce confusion or provide a seamless facade to hide complexity. Instead, a focus on how simplicity works will perhaps create objects that beckon, communicate, and ultimately engage more successfully.
So why exactly might simplicity engage?
A Core Purpose is Beautiful - objects that communicate their core message well tempt us to stare and hold. A core purpose communicated well is strong in its identity, increasing our desire to affiliate and see beauty in its essence.
Options paralyze - McDonalds got this right with order-by-picture. Point and shoot decision-making keeps us from having to think, which we hate to do.
Complexity is intimidating - While we love to learn, we hate to look stupid doing it.
Familiarity is our default - Creatures of habit return to the same brands. Familiarity is safe and comfortable. Object features and concepts that leverage recognizable elements break down initial acceptance barriers.
What we don't understand is initially rejected - New ideas and opinions are perceived wrong until proven right. New things can be dismissed offhand even by the most open-minded.
Noise begs a pattern - Too much noise and it's, well, noise. Instinctually, we want to understand a pattern if we see one. Like a basic but inscrutable widget from yesteryear, our curiosity is immediately stimulated and we yearn to understand what this thing does.
"Business executives as well as kids like hands-on interfaces, immediate feedback on their actions, and the ability to work together in groups to solve problems. There's very little difference in the technology for serious work and serious play."
-- Neil Gershenfeld, Director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms
In an attempt to educate MIT research engineers on the use of hi-tech fabrication equipment, a course was created and curiously named "How to Make (Almost) Anything." On the first fall day in 1998 a hundred or so MIT students showed up for a class that could hold only ten. The surprises didn't stop there. There were as many artists and architects as engineers, and prospective students claimed things like "All my life I've been waiting to take a class like this," and "I'll do anything to get into this class." Hardly the typical student attitude.
What was happening here? There seemed to be a demand for the practical ability to make things. Students saw endless possibility in the cutting, printing, and assembling tools made available to the class. Perhaps it wasn't the necessity-driven needs of research that drove students to participate, but the potential of the tools that inspired them.
Professor Neil Gershenfeld, in his book FAB: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication commented of the students "They were motivated by the desire to make things they'd always wanted but that didn't exist." And, he adds, "they routinely and single-handedly managed to design and build complete functioning systems."
While all toolkits facilitate creation, they vary widely in form and complexity. For example, some toolkits involve physical manipulation (like LEGOs) while others are virtual (like software development kits). Some produce objects (like clay) and others help express ideas (like language). Some are unrestrained and expansive (like painting) and others are highly focused (like skinning an .mp3 player). Some are designed for innovative expression (like creating art) while others concentrate on re-fabricating existing models (like jigsaw puzzles).