A while back Wired wrote an article and had the cover of their magazine of "How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong". They elaborate on Jobs’ tyrannical point of running a company, and explain that Jobs’ perspective is one that pushes employees to their edge and further making new designs and new programs. Nothing is released until it is completed, and in a proper running stage that people will not find flaws with.
But my perspective with Apple is that their simplicity is what sells! The end user of their applications are drawn in by the simplicity and the ease of use of many Mac products in comparison, especially to Windows. Take a look at the iPod, one wheel, one center button and a Menus that are layed out very easily and are great to navigate. The ease of use that Mac provides, is one that draws users of all ages.
John Maeda on TED.com has a talk of Simplicity Patterns . The integration of design, technology, and simplicity is one that ultimately leads to more productivity, better usage, and more sales.
Then I came across 23 Kick Ass Portfolios , and thought that these portfolios were yes, kick ass, but at the same time, they don’t have the same type of simplicity that encourages easy navigation, and lets the user have a simple view of where to go and what to do. In order to encourage the portfolio design and to draw more people, I think they should split up their site, and have their designs under a separate location to ease navigation and have the reviewer be able to look at the designs more objectively. With other designs in the way, the object can get obscured and lead to a misjudgment of the portfolio itself.
