Presented at CPMN meeting, April 2012.

1. How to be an
intelligent designer
Simon Lewis

2. The problem
✓ ✗

3. Why are digital products so complex?
vs

4. It doesn’t have to be this way

5. Bring on the men with beards
✗ ✓

6. Intelligent design principles
1 Reduce the number of features that the product offers
2 Introduce a strong mental model for the user
3 Pay attention to aesthetics

7. Intelligent design principles
1 Remove features • Users struggle to understand
what the product is for.
2 Add a mental model • Features interact with each
other -
usually badly.
3 Care about aesthetics
• Navigation is compromised.

8. Intelligent design principles
1 Remove features • Design it explicitly.
2 Add a mental model • Do it first – before you design
the product.
3 Care about aesthetics • Build the product to support the
model – not vice versa.

9. Intelligent design principles
1 Remove features • Create the right first impression.
2 Add a mental model • Showcase your simplicity.
3 Care about aesthetics • Reveal the mental model.

10. Intelligent design principles
1 SIMPLE (COMPLEX)
2 INTUITIVE vs (OBSCURE)
3 DELIGHTFUL (DREADFUL)

11. It’s that simple
(or is it?)

12. Thank you
Simon Lewis