Sunday, November 4, 2007

the Pyramid Principle in the User Interface

The Pyramid Principle is a great concept in writing, which ought to be more widespread than it is. (The book is out of print and the creator, Barbara Minto, works it as a consulting business rather than spreading the word.) The gist is that your writing should have one main point, supported by a couple supporting points, each of which is supported. It's a simple idea, but deceptively difficult to stick to and deceptively powerful.

A great idea (as usual, from someone else) was, "How bout you organize your home page according to the Pyramid Principle?"

A step in this direction is a new right navigation:

I think it's way clearer than "Tools" and "Departments", the previous categories.

Linkspank is the greatest bestest way to share links because:
  • Friends - You do it with your friends
  • Spanks - There is a lot of good stuff to send and receive
  • Winning - You can win stuff and achieve your way to glory.
Just a tidbit.