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Ryan Singer's mental models

3 claims Ryan Singer made fit 3 mental models. Most often: Affordances and signifiers, Conservation of complexity, Design is how it works. Everything they said here.

Models they name

Their own words name the idea.

Affordances and signifiers

An interface should show what can be done and where, and give people a model of how it works.

Others who think with this model

Don NormanAmelia WattenbergerJakob NielsenJason FriedMeaghan ChoiNikita Prokopovand 1 more

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Interface copy is an affordance: reading it is an act that gives the user information for what to do next.

  1. Ryan Singer by Author of Shape Up; formerly head of strategy at Basecamp We consider interface copy to be an affordance, too. Reading it is an act that gives the user information for subsequent actions. Shape Up, chapter 4: Find the Elementsbasecamp.com · by 10 Jul 2019
    Their wordsWe consider interface copy to be an affordance, too. Reading it is an act that gives the user information for subsequent actions.

    ↗Shape Up, chapter 4: Find the Elementsbasecamp.com

    by 10 Jul 2019

Design is how it works

Judge a design by what it does for the person using it, not only by how it looks.

Others who think with this model

Dieter RamsAndy MadrickEdward TufteJason FriedJulie ZhuoSusan Kare

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Shaping is primarily design work: the shaped concept is an interaction design seen from the user's perspective, and it takes technical literacy, not programming.

  1. Ryan Singer by Author of Shape Up; formerly head of strategy at Basecamp Shaping is primarily design work. The shaped concept is an interaction design viewed from the user’s perspective. It defines what the feature does, how it works, and where it fits into existing flows. Shape Up, chapter 2: Principles of Shapingbasecamp.com · by 10 Jul 2019
    Their wordsShaping is primarily design work. The shaped concept is an interaction design viewed from the user’s perspective. It defines what the feature does, how it works, and where it fits into existing flows.

    ↗Shape Up, chapter 2: Principles of Shapingbasecamp.com

    by 10 Jul 2019

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Conservation of complexity

Some complexity cannot be removed, only moved; the question is who carries it, the user or the maker.

Others who think with this model

Dieter RamsFrank ChimeroLarry TeslerRaph KosterRich Hickey

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Over-specifying a design makes it harder to estimate, not easier: the more specific the work, the more hidden complexity a mockup commits the team to.

  1. Ryan Singer by Author of Shape Up; formerly head of strategy at Basecamp Over-specifying the design also leads to estimation errors. Counterintuitive as it may seem, the more specific the work is, the harder it can be to estimate. Shape Up, chapter 2: Principles of Shapingbasecamp.com · by 10 Jul 2019
    Their wordsOver-specifying the design also leads to estimation errors. Counterintuitive as it may seem, the more specific the work is, the harder it can be to estimate.

    ↗Shape Up, chapter 2: Principles of Shapingbasecamp.com

    by 10 Jul 2019