Don Norman on Consumer Electronics May 14, 2007
Posted by reto wettach in innovative interfaces.trackback
In this exciting article about Apple’s design approach, Don Norman, who used to be VP of advance technology at Apple from 1993 to 1998, says:
”The hardest part of design, especially consumer electronics,” says Norman, “is keeping features out.” Simplicity, he says, is in itself a product differentiator, and pursuing it can lead to innovation.
Rolston agrees. “The most fundamental thing about Apple that’s interesting to me,” he says, “is that they’re just as smart about what they don’t do. Great products can be made more beautiful by omitting things.”
Is a good quote to the way I think about interaction design.
Yeah I agree, in most cases less is more
Definetly, alot of interfaces have this problem. I think variance is also a factor…i.e. same products but different brands trying to put something different by adding more features, so switching can be a problem at times.
I agree with Norman, but it is not always the case. If you have ‘early adopters’ for instance, they might appreciate all these extra features. But that is not the place were the money is earned, so Norman is right for the overall range of costumers.