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"You'll Never Become a Designer" I was gifted from an early age in both art and mathematics, though my immigrant father acknowledged only my math skills. So off I went to MIT to study computer science. After completing a few degrees, I shifted gears and went to art school -- and somehow, years later, ended up among the pioneering designers of the digital domain. Along the way, I have tried to understand the word "design" and now, as a professor at the MIT Media Lab, to make design relevant to a non-art-school audience.
"Design Is Not Art" One hears this assertion often in all kinds of forms, from casual conversation to museum exhibitions like the recent "Design Is Not Art" show at the National Design Museum. Thus, for the nondesigner, understanding the field of design is often a daunting task as it requires understanding what "art" is -- or least, what is "not art."
As a result, we see today that "design" has become a convenient buzzword, especially in the business world, to describe the process of creating objects and experiences that consumers will flock to, drawn by the power of design. But what exactly is this power?
In this series of columns, I will lay out the philosophy of design that I've developed at MIT in a way that, I hope, sheds light on design for the business community.
Forest in the Foreground On a recent vacation hike in Maine, I noted that the trails were marked with rectangles of bright blue paint. Each of the trails was highly navigable due to its good condition, but once in a while I would pause and wonder, "Where do I go next?" And almost like magic one of these blue markers that previously sat in the background of my perceptual field literally "popped" into the foreground.
With my bearings restored, I would slowly return to the beautiful, uninterrupted forest vistas with the emotional satisfaction and comfort that one has when they experience great design.
If the forest were covered with 10 times the number of blue markers I had seen on my hike, the probability of my getting lost would certainly be reduced. One could imagine the markers organized in some more symbolic shape -- say a real arrow, instead of a cryptic linear marker.
And if we wish to go that far, why not just paint the more explicit text, "this way," on the rocks in 100-point Helvetica so there's no ambiguity whatsoever? Yet at some point, with the successive addition of more sophisticated elements, the true value of the untainted forest suddenly vanishes.
Design is, to some extent, about prioritizing the foreground experience, but providing a low-energy means of gently shifting focus to the background whenever the greater context of an activity might matter more than the activity itself. Once you have properly situated yourself, you're free to get lost in the foreground experience again. What's wrong with getting lost anyway?
Simplicity The key is to provide the hiker, the user, or the viewer with enough -- but not too much -- information. At MIT, I've started a research program on "simplicity" as a first step towards enabling the greater fusion between design thinking and industry, specifically the technology industry.
I believe that central to any discussion of design is the careful balance that must be met between simplicity and complexity, and the consortium of technology-focused companies and innovative MIT Media Lab researchers are the perfect breeding ground for the next generation of realistic design concepts.
Together, we're defining the business value of simplicity and the design tenets that will help achieve it. For instance, giving users just enough -- but not too much -- information creates a rich experience.
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John Maeda is an award-winning graphic designer, artist, and computer scientist at the MIT Media Laboratory, where he runs the Lab's design-oriented Physical Language Workshop, and co-directs SIMPLICITY, a new research program exploring ways to break free from the intimidating complexity of today's technology and the frustration of information overload
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