Design principle: Take things away until the design breaks, then put that last thing back in.
ALAN COOPERDesign principle: Take things away until the design breaks, then put that last thing back in.
ALAN COOPERComputers no longer interface with humans–they interact, and the interaction will become steadily deeper, more subtle, and more crucial to our collective sanity and ultimate survival.
ALAN COOPERMen do not greet one another like this … except perhaps at rugby club dinners.
ALAN COOPERBecause computers have memories, we imagine that they must be something like our human memories, but that is simply not true.
ALAN COOPERTo our human minds, computers behave less like rocks and trees than they do like humans, so we unconsciously treat them like people.
ALAN COOPERThere is little difference technically between a complicated, confusing program and a simple, fun, and powerful product.
ALAN COOPERIf you are making a chair, the sandpaper can make it smoother. But no amount of sandpaper will turn a chair into a table.
ALAN COOPERTouring hard and then working on putting the next one out. I don’t need to break. I just need to put a record out.
ALAN COOPERMy computer’s memory stores a million phone numbers with perfect accuracy, but I have to stop and think to recall my own.
ALAN COOPERIronically, the thing that will likely make the least improvement in the ease of use of software-based products is new technology.
ALAN COOPERWhen I was a teenager, that was when I fell in love with music. It affected me in a deep way. That’s why I love having teenagers at our shows.
ALAN COOPERAs these machines leak into every corner of our lives, they will annoy us, infuriate us, and even kill a few of us.
ALAN COOPERPast dreams of bliss our lives contain, And slight the chords that still retain A heart estranged to joys again,
ALAN COOPERIf we want users to like our software we should design it to behave like a likeable person: respectful, generous and helpful.
ALAN COOPERI just try and learn to be a good husband and be a good father before I am a good rock star. That means saying no to certain things that go with the business.
ALAN COOPERComputer memories work in a manner alien to human memories. My memory lets me recognize the faces of my friends, whereas my own computer never even recognizes me.
ALAN COOPER