Hi Dave,
Yes, of course there is always space to improve a product. I didn't intend
to imply otherwise! Even the Google search results have been changed
recently (e.g. you can now promote, remove, or comment upon result items).
My point was more that one has to take a lot of care with a product like
that, because it IS so successful. And that pretty much means being
data-driven.
So, Dave, if you were the designer for Google search results, how would you
go about making a major design change? Consider all the obvious
stakeholders (zillions of users, advertisers, and sites, all balanced in a
thriving ecosystem), the design constraints (brand, speed, correctness,
etc.), the fate of the world economy... :-) Operationally, what would you
do before rolling it out? How would you show that your design isn't
disruptive to that ecosystem?
(And also, wouldn't you take engineering constraints and possibilities into
consideration? If you're looking at the product holistically, you can't
really separate that from "pure design.")
- Jenifer
On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 6:41 PM, Dave Malouf <d...@ixda.org> wrote:
> Not all forms of production are DESIGN. Engineering is not the same as
> design.
> Many companies are examples of engineering success.
>
> that doesn't make it NOT a success. It just means its not an example of
> design success.
>
> This isn't intrinsically a bad thing.
> For some the differentiation itself may be meaningless. But for others it
> is
> very meaningful.
> It is meaningful on a few levels:
> 1) For those of us invested in design, it tells us we have things we need
> to
> learn to do better.
> 2) It also highlights possible opportunities for improvement b/c unlike
> what
> was implied in Jennifer's question I believe there is always space to
> improve. It is called taking your advantage and expanding on it, to protect
> it from encroachment. This means, that if we take a new lens to the problem
> space maybe we can develop further improvements that further extend the
> lead
> in the market place.
>
> -- dave
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 5:35 PM, Todd Zaki Warfel <li...@toddwarfel.com
> >wrote:
>
> > How is Google not a design success story? Design goes much deeper than
> the
> > interface.
> >
> > Cheers!
> >
> > Todd Zaki Warfel
> > Principal Design Researcher
> > Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully.
> > ----------------------------------
> > *Contact Info*
> > Voice: (215) 825-7423Email: t...@messagefirst.com
> > AIM: twar...@mac.com
> > Blog: http://toddwarfel.com <http://toddwarfel/>
> > Twitter: zakiwarfel
> > ----------------------------------
> > In theory, theory and practice are the same.
> > In practice, they are not.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Dave Malouf
> http://davemalouf.com/
> http://twitter.com/daveixd
> http://scad.edu/industrialdesign
> http://ixda.org/
> ________________________________________________________________
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--
---------------------------------------
Jenifer Tidwell
jenifer.tidw...@gmail.com
http://designinginterfaces.com
http://jtidwell.net
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