Making life simpler, easier and less stressful. Aren’t these a big part of what good design can do to help us live well?
Designing Simplicity was the first in a series of Inspire + Connect evening events organised by the Design Council Challenges team.
The speakers were Sam Hecht, co-founder of Industrial Facility, whose ethos of striving for simplicity has led to more user friendly products, and Dan Thompson, founder of the Empty Shops Network, and the instigator of the recent #riotcleanup efforts in London.
Sam talked about his design process - removing unnecessary layers so that the function of an object is simple and clear. But he also recognised that everything is a product, that every product is part of a system, and that every system exists in an environment.
The design does not stop at the edges of the object, but is an extension of the whole.
Dan is not a designer, but he facilitates activities and change by the simplest means possible. In the case of #riotcleanup, an idea, a mobile phone, a twitter account, a memorable hashtag and a broom.
In the first 24hrs of #riotcleanup, 87,000 twitter followers believed that they could make a difference. The key was simplicity - a straightforward, practical action using basic equipment meant a low barrier to entry.
Both speakers demonstrated that a structured approach to designing simplicity can produce incredibly effective results.
