Title: Ex-Apple Designer Creates Teaching UI That “Kills Math” Using Data Viz
Context: System complexity doesn’t have to be “just the way it is”. We are designers and it is our job to make things easier to use. That said, it takes a designer with huge balls to tackle a problem the size of math.
Synopsis: Even things that we take for granted have inherent user experiences. Take math for example. The quantum leap that propelled mathematical innovation after the dark ages was not that people got smarter all of a sudden. No, they improved the UI by switching to arabic numerals (which have a much better user experience than roman numerals no matter what the Superbowl or Rocky sequels try to tell you). And that’s the problem with age old systems; we forget that we access them through an arbitrary rule set, just like every other system that we use, design and build. Just because it has always been done that way, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a better way out there. As a matter of fact, these age old systems of immeasurable complexity are probably the ones in the greatest need of a design overhaul. Entropy exists by law (look it up) and can only be combated through the introduction of outside forces that transform and simplify the system. So don’t complain that math is to hard, bitch about the UX instead.
Best Bit: “When a technology gains an interface that transforms it from a ‘technical’ subject to an artistic medium, that’s when creative magic happens”
via fastcodesign.com
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