Notions of Minimalism and the Design of Interactive Systems
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Where »less« is »more« – notions of minimalism and the design of interactive systems: A constructive analysis of products & processes of human-computer-interaction design from a minimalist standpoint Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades an der MIN-Fakultät Department Informatik der Universität Hamburg vorgelegt von Hartmut Obendorf Hamburg 2007 Genehmigt von der MIN-Fakultät Department Informatik der Universität Hamburg auf Antrag von Prof. Dr. Horst Oberquelle Erstgutachter(in)/Doktorvater Prof. Dr. Horst Oberquelle Zweitgutachter(in) Hamburg, den _______________ Datum der Disputation 4.4.2007 Prof. Dr. ____________________________ Leiter Department Informatik (Prof. Dr. N. Ritter) OVERVIEW 1 Designing for an Age of Complexity 11 Computing has added complexity to our lives. The search for machine beauty motivates the transfer of the notion of minimalism from art and music to the design of interactive systems, trying to explain simplicity, and to differentiate paths of reduction. For a concise example, four notions of minimalism are presented and discussed. 2 In Search of ‚Minimalism‘ – Roving in art history, music and elsewhere 21 Examples of works in art, music and literature that were collectively described with the label of Minimalism by contemporary criticism and art history are revisited. This chapter follows a historical rather than a conceptual order and aims not at a single definition of Minimalism, but instead tries to illustrate both the breadth of concepts underlying works characterized as minimal, and the recurrence of attributes of minimal art in different disciplines. 3 A Role for Minimalism in the Use-Centered Design of Interactive Systems 61 Based on these shared aspects of minimalism, four principles, namely functional, structural, constructional and compositional minimalism, are introduced. Before these concepts are defined in the context of the use-centered design for interactive systems, the scope of this transfer is set as different possible interpretations of minimalism that are not covered in this thesis are illustrated. 4 Minimalism and Familiar Perspectives 81 The four notions of minimalism are set in relation to existing concepts in the field of human- computer interaction. Existing related work, such as the practice of industrial design, international usability standards, or the concept of appliances are used to demonstrate the minimalist viewpoint. 5 Minimalism in Products 109 The minimalistic principles are put to the test as different products of design are examined for their minimalistic qualities and possible problems created by reduction. While all examples—a mixture of research prototypes and commercial applications—apply reduction in some way and at some point, there is a surprising variation in results. 6 Minimalism in Development Processes 205 The analysis is carried forward to design processes. Building upon the minimal qualities defined in the chapter five, a design crit technique is developed. Minimalism is also used to analyze existing development techniques, namely the use of scenarios, and to identify which techniques need be included in a development process for a given minimal aim. To demonstrate a more abstract use of minimalism, an existing development process is analyzed, identifying a genre of development techniques. 7 Reflections on Minimalism 249 The product and process threads are reevaluated and the dimensions of minimalism are evaluated for their usefulness in analyzing human-computer interaction design. A critical reflection of the ‚mental apparatus‘ that is established by the four notions of minimalism also shows limitations of the approach. 8 Appendix: CommSy Interviews 263 9 Bibliography 267 3 Table of Contents 1 Designing for an Age of Complexity 11 1.1 Who should read this Thesis? 12 1.2 Motivations for Minimalism in HCI 12 1.2.1 Machine Beauty = Power + Simplicity 13 1.2.2 Reduction – Give Up or Gain? 13 1.2.3 Minimalism: Borrowing the Extreme from the Arts 14 1.3 Minimalism in a Nutshell 15 1.3.1 Four Notions of Minimalism, their Relationship and Design 15 1.3.2 An Example Use of the Notions of Minimalism for Product Analysis 17 1.3.3 Minimalism, Products and Processes 19 1.4 The Structure of this Thesis 19 2 In Search of ‚Minimalism‘ – Roving in art history, music and elsewhere 21 2.1 Minimalism in the Arts 23 2.1.1 Rauschenberg, Klein and Newman: The Birth of Minimal Painting 23 2.1.2 Reinhardt: art-as-art 25 2.1.3 Stella: To See What Is There 27 2.1.4 Radical Minimalism and Post-Minimalist Painting 29 2.1.5 Judd, Andre, Flavin and Morris: Minimal Objects 30 2.1.6 LeWitt: Minimal Structure in Minimalist Sculpture 34 2.1.7 Post-Minimalist Sculpture 35 2.1.8 Summarizing Minimal Art: Art as Art or Cooperative Sense-Building? 37 2.2 Minimalism in Music 38 2.2.1 The Origins of Minimal Music 39 2.2.2 Terry Riley 40 2.2.3 La Monte Young 42 2.2.4 Philip Glass 44 2.2.5 Steve Reich 46 2.2.6 Summarizing Minimalism in Music 48 2.3 Minimalism Found Elsewhere 49 2.3.1 Literary Minimalism: Roots in Hemingway, Archetype in Carver 50 2.3.2 Minimalism in Architecture 52 2.3.3 Minimalism in Typography 54 4 2.4 Homing in on Minimalism: Summarizing the Art perspective 56 2.4.1 Minimality of Means 57 2.4.2 Minimality of Meaning 57 2.4.3 Minimality of Structure 57 2.4.4 Use of Patterns 58 2.4.5 Involvement of the recipient 58 2.4.6 The Minimalist Perspective and Criticism 59 3 A Role for Minimalism in the Use-Centered Design of Interactive Systems 61 3.1 Meanings of Minimalism in HCI — a Transfer from the Arts 61 3.2 Defining the Scope of Minimalist Terminology 63 3.2.1 Illustrating the Limits of the Notion of Simplicity 64 3.2.2 A Differentiation from Mathematic Minimalism 67 3.2.3 A Differentiation from Linguistic Minimalism 68 3.2.4 A Differentiation from Documentation Minimalism 69 3.2.5 A Differentiation from Folk Minimalism 70 3.3 Defining Four Notions of the Minimal for Interaction Design 71 3.3.1 Minimal Functionality for User Interfaces 72 3.3.2 Minimal Structure for User Interfaces 73 3.3.3 Minimal Architecture for User Interfaces 74 3.3.4 Minimal Composition for User Interfaces 75 3.3.5 A Minimalist Terminology for the Design of Interactive Systems 76 3.4 Summary 79 4 Minimalism and Familiar Perspectives 81 4.1 HCI, Design and Minimalism 82 4.2 Standards in Interaction Design and Minimalism 84 4.3 HCI Lore and Minimalism 90 4.3.1 Rules of Noble Metal and Minimalism 90 4.3.2 Interface Guidelines and Minimalism 91 4.3.3 Discussion 92 4.4 Different Takes at Simplicity and Minimalism 93 4.4.1 Deep Design: Causes of Clutter & Excise 93 4.4.2 Visibility of Interface Elements 96 4.4.3 Access Structure 98 4.4.4 Minimalism and Simplicity (again) 101 4.5 Minimalism and Conceptions of Design 102 4.6 Minimalism and Consistency 104 4.7 Revisiting the four notions of Minimalism 107 5 5 Minimalism in Products 109 5.1 Functional Minimalism 109 5.1.1 Cutting Edges 110 5.1.2 Apple GarageBand (i-Series 1) 112 5.1.3 The CommSy Community System 116 5.1.4 Word Processing 123 5.1.5 Refining the Notion of Functional Minimalism 128 5.2 Structural Minimalism 129 5.2.1 Remote Controls 129 5.2.2 The Palm Handheld 132 5.2.3 Minimal Access Structures for Mobile Communication 137 5.2.4 Hyperscout: Enhancing Link Preview in the World Wide Web 141 5.2.5 Word Processing 146 5.2.6 Refining the Notion of Structural Minimalism 151 5.3 Architectural Minimalism 154 5.3.1 Building blocks 154 5.3.2 Apple Automator (i-Series 2) 157 5.3.3 SketchUp 159 5.3.4 Apple iPod 163 5.3.5 Web 2.0 166 5.3.6 Word Processing 171 5.3.7 Refining the Notion of Architectural Minimalism 173 5.4 Compositional Minimalism 176 5.4.1 Old Buildings Learn 176 5.4.2 A Sticky Story: the Post-it Note 178 5.4.3 Email 179 5.4.4 Powerpoint 183 5.4.5 WikiWikiWebs 186 5.4.6 Word Processing 190 5.4.7 Refining the Notion of Compositional Minimalism 192 5.5 Reflections on the four notions of Minimalism 195 5.5.1 On the Role of Aesthetics and Design 195 5.5.2 A first assessment of suitability for the Analysis of Products 201 5.5.3 Design Advice 202 6 6 Minimalism in Development Processes 205 6.1 Analyzing Product Quality – Genesis of a Design Technique 207 6.1.1 The Minimal Design Game 208 6.1.2 Discussion 211 6.2 Analyzing Design Techniques – Genesis of a Process 212 6.2.1 Minimalism in Usability Engineering? Scenario Techniques 213 6.2.2 Minimalism in Agile Development 223 6.2.3 Creating the XPnUE Process: Merging XP with Scenario Techniques 225 6.3 Analyzing Processes – Genesis of a Process Genre 230 6.3.1 A Case Study: CommSy 230 6.3.2 Towards Value-based Participation 241 6.3.3 Discussion 246 6.4 Reflection 248 7 Reflections on Minimalism 251 7.1 The Minimal Perspective on Design 251 7.2 Minimalism as an Analytic Tool 254 7.3 Minimalism as a Constructive Tool 257 7.3.1 The Minimal Design Game 257 7.3.2 XPnUE: Fusing Extreme Programming and Usability Engineering 258 7.3.3 Value-Based Development 259 7.4 Unconnected Ends 260 7.5 Conclusion 262 8 Appendix: CommSy Interviews 263 9 Bibliography 267 10 List of Illustrations 305 7 Preface I have only made this letter longer because I have not the time to make it shorter.