Simple is beautiful.

Part 3 of our 10 part series, 10 Things Every Developer Should Know About Design

Today we springboard from our discussion of metaphors from yesterday. Metaphors are important because they take complex concepts and present them in an approachable way. So in that light, it’s important for developers to think outside the box, literally.

When 111 Is Less Than 110

The 1-1-1 phenomenon as described by Bruce Tognazzini in his fantastic article on principles of interaction design.. Turns out 1:11 takes less time to punch in on your microwave oven than does 1:10; so the extra second you gain is actually offset by the time it takes take to think about and press that extra 0. Better still: the quick minute button!

An Easier Way To Mii

Creating a Mii on the Wii… start from scratch or choose a look alike? This option costs more hours of development and design, but certainly helps those who have trouble creating a caricature of themselves from scratch.

Keeping Your Options Open

While you can inundate your users with too many options, letting them take two paths can be really beneficial. Give them the choice between a quick simple solution and the more complex, customized solution. More on that in Episode 21.