Simplicity's Big Comeback

Simplicity’s

Big Comeback JEREMY PERKINS

Growth spurt

New York Times 2013

New York Times Today

MTV 2013

MTV Today

TurboTax 2013

TurboTax Today

University of Illinois 2013

University of Illinois Today

Qualities

The new normal

Flat style

Generous white space

Single

Column

Hidden navigation

Large typography

Giant images

One message at a time

Mandatory

scrolling

Simplicity

How we got here

The comeback

The web used to be simple

Then screens got bigger

Responsive? We have a problem

Death to the sidebar

Death to the sidebar

Much easier

Usability

Changing expectations

The old model

Device usage, time spent 2010–14

source:  Sta,sta  

The downward scroll

Usability change #1

Hard

Easy

The “fold”

Is there more?

Provide a cue

Shorthand

Usability change #2

Make way for interface

Simpler

Logo = home

Then Now

Magnifying glass = search

Hamburger = navigation

Navigation

Consumable content

Usability change #3

Active Facebook users 2008–15

source:  Sta,sta  

Mobile broadband subscriptions 2007–14

source:  Sta,sta  

Work vs. play

In and out

Living digital

Just like print

source:  Rolling  Stone  

Focal points: good

Focal points: bad

Ingredients

Rich content

source:  Simply  Scratch  

A focus on content

Scannability

Visual texture

Great photos, videos, copy

Animation

Flexible content types

One at a time

Examples

Education at Illinois

A university example

Moving forward

“Good design is

as little design as possible” Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams

“Back to purity,

back to simplicity”

Thank you

@iFactoryBoston @perjeremy