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Design principle: Take things away until the design breaks, then put that last thing back in.

Alan Cooper

Run for your lives-the computers are invading. Awesomely powerful computers tackling ever more important tasks with awkward, old-fashioned interfaces.
ALAN COOPER

Computer Invade Life Live Run
When 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 COOPER

Affect Dep Fell Love Music Show Teenager Way
Computer 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

Alien Computer Facemfriend Human Manner Memory Own Recognize Work
It’s harder than you might think to squander millions of dollars, but a flawed software development process is a tool well suited to the job.
ALAN COOPER

Development Dollar Flaw Harder Job might Million Process Software Squander Suit Think Tool
Design principle: Take things away until the design breaks, then put that last thing back in.
ALAN COOPER

Back Break Design Last Principle Thing
In turn, we will be tempted to kill our computers, but we won’t dare because we are already utterly, irreversibly dependent on these hopeful monsters that make modern life possible.
ALAN COOPER

Computer Dependent Hopeful Irreversible Kill Life Modern Monster Possible
Because computers have memories, we imagine that they must be something like our human memories, but that is simply not true.
ALAN COOPER

Computer Human Imagine Memory Simply Something True
It has also been said that the software industry is an example of midgets standing on the toes of other midgets.
ALAN COOPER

Industry Midget Software Stand Toe
And as soon as any object exhibits sufficient cognitive function, those instincts kick in and we react as though we were interacting with another sentient human being.
ALAN COOPER

Being Human Interact Object React Sentiment Soon Sufficient
It has been said that the great scientific disciplines are examples of giants standing on the shoulders of other giants.
ALAN COOPER

Discipline Example Geat Giant Other Scientific Shoulder Stand
To our human minds, computers behave less like rocks and trees than they do like humans, so we unconsciously treat them like people.
ALAN COOPER

Behave Computer Human Less Like Rock Mind People Treat Tree Unconsciously
The things like that we could fight about, we really don’t. We are pretty lucky for that.
ALAN COOPER

Could Fight Lucky Pretty Really Thing
We seem to be keeping old fans and are bringing on new fans that are teenagers. I think that is amazing.
ALAN COOPER

Amazing Bring Fan Hold Keep Seem Teenager
Well madam, have you looked in the mirror and seen the state of your nose? Boxing is my excuse. What’s yours?
ALAN COOPER

Boxing Excuse Look Madam Mirror Nose Seen State Well
If your persona has goals and the product has magical powers to meet them, how simple could the interaction be? This kind of thinking is useful to help designers look outside the box.
ALAN COOPER

Box Designer Goal Help Magical Person Power Simply Think Useful
To scenes by memory’s silver chain Close-linked, and ever yet apart, That like the vine, whose tendrils young Around some fostering branch have clung, Grown with its growth, as tho’ it sprung From one united heart.
ALAN COOPER

Around Branch Foster Memory Scene Silver Sprung Tendril Until Vine Young

Design principle: Take things away until the design breaks, then put that last thing back in.

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Design principle: Take things away until the design breaks, then put that last thing back in.

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