“Ben Goodger, lead engineer for the Firefox browser, obviously believes in the power of the user interface and credits their ‘less is more’ philosophy as one of the key reasons for the browser’s success. As part of this philosophy, they made sure that the interface was clear, removing words or interface elements wherever they could to increase clarity. They also had fewer and more useful options, only including a configuration option if 15% or more of users were likely to change it. And they worked hard on using smart defaults, like turning the pop-up blocker on. All these small changes created a ‘cumulative feeling of quality’.”

From: http://www.optimalusability.com/post.php?postid=31

Designing for the 80% majority (or 85% in this case) is a great idea.

Sam – this is good stuff, what’s happened to your blog?

Great logo! Do you get it?

For me it was an easy question to answer: Paul Graham.

If you’re not familiar with his writing, please stop embarrassing me by reading this relative drivel and go and read some of his stuff instead.

His latest article is here:

Why to Not Not Start a Startup

Here is a quote that appealed to me:

“If you took a nap in your office in a big company, it would seem unprofessional. But if you’re starting a startup and you fall asleep in the middle of the day, your cofounders will just assume you were tired.”

:-)

But, the good news is that the presentations are now all available online:

http://www.webstock.org.nz/recordings.php

If you didn’t get along, make sure you check out the 10×2 sessions.

This is the quote that grabbed my attention:

“The internet didn’t change my life at all.
I can’t remember life without the internet”.
– Josephine Hall

Ouch! That would have stung for some of the older people in the audience.

She is now 18 and talked about using the internet in 1996, while still at school, to research a science project.

I graduated in 1996. It was also around then that I read an excellent book called Growing Up Digital by Don Tapscott, about “N-Gen”, or the net generation. They (we, although I only just qualify!) are the echo of the baby boom, who have grown up surrounded by interactive technology.

From the book:

Technology is only technology to people born before it was invented
– Alan Kay

That’s why we don’t argue anymore about whether the piano is corrupting music with technology
– Seymore Papert

So, if you’re the sort of person who still marvels at the promise of the internet, take a look over your shoulder and see people, like Josephine, who are already taking it for granted and asking what they can actually do with it.