Hasta La Ideas

When I think of avoiding clutter, I often think of my physical surroundings: the car, the office, my kitchen and my kids’ playroom. However, my computer’s screen — or desktop — also gets pretty messy on a regular basis. What’s more, that clutter can be just as distracting as a physical mess, and hinder my willingness to sit down and work. Fortunately, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. Here’s how I manage digital clutter on my virtual desktop.

Make a Mess As You Work

Much like a potter who goes home with clay on his jeans, I get messy while I work. The time you spend meeting obligations, making ends meet, and fulfilling the 9-to–5 is not the time to get fastidious about the location of every file and folder. Do your job, fling clay, and get stuff done.

At the end of my work day, I’ve typically got screenshots and other images, snippets of text, installers and more all over the desktop. This is perfectly acceptable. Leaving them there for all eternity — or worse, treating the desktop as a filing cabinet — is not.

Process As An Inbox

Most of us have several inboxes in our lives. There’s the physical in tray on your desk, but also email, voice mail, notes from school, and so on. When I sit down to go through those things, I follow the same process each time. Specifically, I ask myself what is this item, what needs to be done about it (if anything) and am I the person to do it? Sorting through the files and folders on my computer desktop requires the same process. Some stuff can be thrown away, others spawn ideas or join existing projects, while others go into long-term storage as reference material. Here’s how I separate the three types:

Trash

1. Screenshots. At work I write, edit and take a lot of screenshots. All of these can go into the trash.
2. Text snippets. I also paste bits of text into Apple’s Text Edit as a temporary placeholder. These also get trashed.
3. Installers. Occasionally, I install new software, often for testing purposes. Those installers are unnecessary after a piece of software has been properly installed, and they love to pile up. Off to the trash they go.

In Progress
Occasionally I’ll come across a website that I want to return to, an article I’d like to read during down time, an idea that could spawn or improve a new project or something I’d like to share.

There are many great ways to capture web site addresses for future reference. Pinterest is a popular service, but my favorite is Pinboard. It’s definitely no-frills, and that’s what I like about it. Pinboard costs about $10 to sign up for the service, and offers a place to store your bookmarks that is aways accessible. Multiple computers, smartphones and tablets can all log into your Pinboard account and have access to your saved sites. You can organize your collection with tags, and optionally share select finds with others. Again, I use Pinboard for sites I’ll refer to often.

That collection is different than articles I’d like to read in my free time. There are several great services that offer a super “read-it-later” experience, and my favorites are Instapaper and Pocket. Both store your saved articles for later viewing on a computer, smartphone or tablet. They also strip out the images, ads and so on so that all you get is the article you’re after. Honestly, I like them both and believe you’d be happy with either.

The next category is new ideas and/or information that pertains to a project in progress. This is also where the article takes a geeky turn, though I’ll ease into it slowly.

I like to store ideas, thoughts worth follow-up, etc. in a file format called plain text. Why? My Internet buddy David Sparks explains it beautifully at his site, Mac Sparky:

Text files are easy to read on any computer running any operating system and don’t require any proprietary word processor to interpret. Even more important, text files can be read by humans. Keeping your writings in text makes them digitally immortal.

Moreover, text is internet friendly. The files are small and can jump among connected devices with poor connections like hopped up Disney faeries. It is really easy to work with your text files on any device from anywhere.

Your computer can read and create plain text files right out of the box. There’s nothing to fiddle with or buy. It just works. Plain text files also act as a nice half-way point before going into your formal project manager. So a folder full of plain text files does it for me.

That’s the non-geek version.

Ideas that require developement go into a piece of Mac software that I love called nvALT. I love nvALT because it’s insanely fast, supports keyboard shortcuts so I don’t have to move my hand to the mouse very often, saving time, and has powerful search capabilities. It syncs to my iPhone and iPad almost instantly, thanks to Dropbox and another app called Simplenote.

Storage

Finally, when it comes to long-term storage of reference material, I’m a loyalist to one product. This is information that does not require an action but might be useful in the future (a local theatre’s summer schedule, for example). This goes into Evernote.

Conclusion

First, don’t get distracted by trying to stay neat while you work. That’s counterproductive and will leave you frustrated. At the end of the day, process the stuff that has accumulated on your computer’s screen as you would any other inbox. Decided what a file is, what must be done with it (incubate, throw away, delegate or save for later), and then act accordingly by moving that item to the proper location. You’ll be glad you did.

Need help getting organized? Buy the DRM-free audiobook version of Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week today for only $8.99.

In the next movie in our series of interviews we filmed for the Design Museum Collection App for iPad, which is available to download free from the app store here, Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic talks about iconic word processing products in their collection.

He describes the designs of iconic products as the movie follows the move from analogue to digital, starting with the development of the typewriter into laptop computers in the 1980s through to the recent switch from books to e-readers.

You can also listen to Sudjic talking about classic design in previous movies featuring driving, music and chairs.

Download the Design Museum Collection App »

Here are some excerpts from the app:

Valentine (above)

With its plastic casing and strong handle, the 1969 Valentine typewriter was marketed, by Italian manufacturer’s Olivetti, as a lightweight portable typewriter. While it fulfilled its function competently, Sottsass’ playful design and choice of bright colour, inspired by pop-art, expressed the mood of the time and suggested that the typewriter still had a place in the modern world.

GRiD Compass 1101 (above)

Utilising a clam-shell design, British industrial designer, Bill Moggridge designed what most people consider to be the world’s first laptop. The computer ran its own operating system and included a 320 by 200 pixels screen that, while tiny by today’s standards, was considerable at the time. The high cost of the Compass limited the market and it was mainly used by the United States government.

ThinkPad 701 (above)

ThinkPads used innovative trackpoint buttons instead of a rollerball or mouse to control the cursor. While this added a useful new functionality to laptops, many criticised the use of colour suggesting red should be limited to operations relating to emergencies. The other key design feature of this 1995 design is the ‘butterfly’ keyboard that folds out and expands as the lid is opened. The casing and shape were modelled on a Bento box, the Japanese food container with multiple compartments.

Apple iMac (above)

Founded by two college dropouts in the late 1970s, Apple grew extremely fast in the early years of the computer age and then lost nearly its entire market share to Microsoft, but came back by reinventing the computer. While the all-in-one monitor and computer configuration is an Apple hallmark – dating back to the first Apple
Macintosh in 1984 – it was the launch of the iMac in 1998 that set the benchmark for future computer designs, selling over two million units in its first year.

According to Apple’s Senior Vice President, Industrial Design, Jonathan Ive, ‘The objective was to design a computer for the consumer market that would be simple, easy to use, highly integrated, quiet and small.’ In this typically economical statement, Ive has summarised the winning formula – advanced computer technologies presented in an accessible format.

Ive and his team are more akin to craftspeople than stylists, working through an intense analysis of function and a commitment to using materials truthfully. With the iMac, the idea of translucency emerged from a desire to use plastics in a new, honest way and not as a self-conscious wish to invest the computer with saccharin sweetness. As Ive says, ‘we wanted it to be an unashamadely plastic product. Given our obsession with materials and production processes, we explored different polymers, moulding technologies, colour, texture and levels of opacity. Transluscent materials posed new challenges, we not only needed to design new ways of moulding individual parts but to develop new methods of assembly. We found ourselves caring about the appearance of internal components that had previously had little impact on the product’s appearance.’

The iMac not only transformed computer design but also home offices through its pioneering introduction of colour into the drab world of computing, predominated by greys and beige. When researching new processes, Ive and the Apple team regularly seek advice from outside world of computer design. For the iMac, they consulted a group of confectioners for their strawberry, blueberry, grape, tangerine and lime shades. As Ive noted, ‘Their experience in the science of translucent colour control helped us to understand processes to ensure consistency in high volume.

Pro Mouse (above)

Apple’s Senior Vice President, Industrial Design, Jonathan Ive describes the design process for this step-change in computer interaction design which came out in 2000: ‘we learnt from studies that the button on a mouse creates a target specifically defining how it is held and clicked. This limits the number of ways that users can hold a mouse and consequently limits comfortable use with a variety of hand sizes and methods of use.

By building multiple prototypes we developed the idea of making the entire surface the button. Allowing users to position their hands on the mouse naturally afforded different styles of use. Similarly, by rotating the dial around the optical sensor the user can adjust the force required to activate the click switch.

Analysing surface tension in liquid droplets helped us to develop a pure, essential form. A founding idea, however, can be undermined unless the ultimate implementation is based upon the same assumptions. By sharing the concerns and sensitivities of the original idea, we developed a construction to ultra-sonically weld the simple pure surface into the product assembly.’ Jonathan Ive.

One Laptop Per Child XO-1 (above)

One Laptop Per Child is a non-profit programme created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. The 2006 child-size laptop brings learning, information and communication to children where education is needed most: in developing countries. The result is an inexpensive and energy-efficient computer. The machine’s reduction in energy use, by 90 percent, is ideal for a device that could be charged by hand-cranked power in rural villages. The laptop features Wi-Fi antenna ‘rabbit ears,’ an energy-efficient LCD digital writing tablet and integrated video camera. Networking capabilities allow children to connect to each other, their school, their teacher and the internet. Every design aspect of the machine serves a dual purpose to achieve a sense of economy and efficiency.

Kindle 3

The Kindle was the first product to suggest that electronic book readers could offer a viable alternative to physical books. Key to the Kindle’s success was the black and white e-ink display that provided a far more realistic representation of print and minimised the screen reflections that plagued other devices. This 2010 version has wireless connectivity that allow users to download content at any time. In 2010, the retailer Amazon announced that in the United States their e-book sales had surpassed sales of paperback books for the first time.

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Ji Lee’s simple plug-in removes text from any site to let images stand alone

The endless stream of information available on the web can easily get clogged with an overload of messaging. To simplify your daily surfing sessions, former Google Creative Lab Creative Director Ji Lee—with the coding help of Cory Forsyth—has come up with the Wordless Web, a simple browser plug-in that takes any website and gets rid of the text, leaving only pictures. As longtime supporters of Lee’s “special projects“, we were keen to see a substantial array of websites’ content reduced to a context-free assortment of images with one simple click.

By presenting the Internet as a palette of pictures only, the website reader becomes a viewer. “No text means no context,” says Lee. “You’re free to enjoy the images in their purest form, without names, labels, definitions, or purpose. It makes the pictures we see across the web more mysterious and open to interpretation of our own imaginations.”

Although we love the clean look of most websites without words, we noticed an interesting effect that the “Bubble Project” founder has exposed as a true eye-opener. While some websites benefit from being free of text, others seem to turn into giant advertising billboards. Regardless of the outcome, Wordless Web is an interesting adventure in turning something so vital upside down. Give it a go yourself at Wordless Web.

Award-winning USB adapter reduces size of bulky British power plug design by 70%

Designed in 1947, the British plug firmly holds its place as one of the world’s largest three-pin power interfaces, escaping the grips of design innovation with the equally clunky editions continuously rolled out. Now, however, product designer and illustrator Min-Kyu Choi of Made in Mind has created The Mu—a folding USB adapter with a minimal, refined design that reduces overall object size by more than 70%.

The streamlining is achieved with a rotating central pin that allows the adapter to fold flat for travel and storage. This clever, space-saving innovation earned The Mu the title of Product Design of the Year and Overall Design of the Year from the 2010 Brit Insurance Design Awards. Even the packaging on the sleek, white Mu is slender and attractive.

Much anticipated, The Mu launches today, 17 February, for £25.

Designer David Benqué examines the role of imagination in computer-generated folk tales

Giving mythical tales a modern makeover, designer David Benqué has created The Infinite Adventure Machine, a story-generating program that merges fairytale narration with digital computing. Modeled after the 31 functions of folktales identified by the philosopher Vladimir Propp, The Infinite Adventure Machine generates timed visual cues and synopses for imagining your own story. Propelling the plot is a formula that denotes each of the 31 functions, such as “Trickery” and “Guidance,” with a letter and a number to create a story that is equal parts craft and code.

Inspired by Neal Stephenson’s sci-fi novel, “The Diamond Age,” Benqué set out to create an adaptive book that informs the pacing of composition enhanced by the user’s own ingenuity. The speculative project was commissioned by Microsoft Research (Cambridge UK) and a participant of the Future of Writing project, The Infinite Adventure Machine signals a rise in narrative science that contemplates the speculative future of fiction. Although automated archetypes provide storytelling signposts, imagination still remains a fundamental element of the process. Benqué states, “I wanted people to question the extent to which reducing stories to a system is a meaningful quest and what part of our brains will remain an enjoyable mystery.”

The Infinite Adventure Machine is a featured project under the collective exhibition, Glitch Fiction. The show will be held at the Cité de la Mode et du Design during Paris Design Week until 18 September 2011.