It’s just after Christmas and like a lot of people I’ve spent my fair share of time in toy shops and I’ve been reminded of a goal that I had when I ran a programming team. Everything should be designed like a Tomy toy. I don’t mean child-like but where possible solutions should follow the pattern in toys.
I’ve got a memory like a sieve so I like acronyms hence SERIES
- S imple – nothing wasted
- E ngaging – asks to be used
- R obust – hard to break
- I nteractive – instant feedback
- E lective – you choose how to use it
- S timulating – encourages creativity
Compare this with Word, Photoshop and even web apps like Gmail. How many menus, icons and hidden rules are there to cope with before you can use the things?