Hello from the end of May. I’m Diana Kimball Berlin, a partner at Matrix leading concept through Series A rounds in B2B SaaS and AI startups. Here are five fragments that stuck with me last week…
Being able to walk around in the same space, and have the feeling that we were really there moving around each other in each other's rooms was unbelievably cool. Giving each other high-fives was magic. But when we went to hug, Apple fades the animation away when you get too close.
– Reddit user on the Apple Vision Pro subreddit, “Looking for more shared spatial experiences / thoughts on my first time,” May 21, 2024. I can guess why they might have designed it this way, but it’s still symbolically sad: don’t dare get too close.
In Myst’s heyday, the concept of “casual games” had not yet solidified, but now it’s okay to make games that take it easy. We’re used to a world with bajillion-sellers like Bejeweled, one-finger smartphone and tablet games that we digest at our own pace, and quieter adventure experiences like Gone Home and Dear Esther–games that put the pot on simmer rather than full boil. What if Myst was, in fact, the world’s first breakout casual game? The first adventure roasted in a slow-cooker?
– Benj Edwards, “Myst at 25: How it changed gaming, created addicts, and made enemies,” Fast Company, September 24, 2018. Found while browsing through the rest of Benj Edwards’s posts after last week’s Chuck E. Cheese highlight. Fascinated by the idea that Myst might have been the original Animal Crossing.
Just as I promised myself to use photos instead of drawings, I also promised myself to try never to show an empty screen. We know how software is an even more important component than hardware, and I didn’t want “dead computers” on my pages.
– Marcin Wichary, “A Story of the Photo on Page 716,” on the site for Shift Happens, his book about the history of keyboards. I keep the two-volume set on my desk at the Matrix office…visitors always welcome to page through.
All exchanges happen at edges, and exchanges lead to an increase in value: The place where two eco-systems or habitats meet is generally more productive and richer in the variety of species present than either habitat on its own. In ecology this is called ‘ecotone.’ This is central to the idea of using edges as a design method. The logic is simple. If the most productive bit of woodland is the edge, then design it to have a bigger edge.
– Tim Sonder, “Permaculture Principle #11: Use Edges and Value the Marginal,” November 2019. Shared with me by Chris after the last few weeks of talk about transitional areas and edges.
The instruments in Star Trek struck me as anarchic, because it was clear the designers didn’t consider at all how they would work, or, if they did, they just weren’t concerned. Some examples: Tiny instruments make enormous sounds. Instruments are “telepathic”. Things resonate by defying the laws of physics.
– S. Astrid Bin, “Lessons in instrument design from Star Trek,” Sci-Fi Interfaces, February 12, 2024. A truly delightful old-school blog post (but published just a few months ago!) about a musical instrument designer deciding to recreate a prop from Star Trek and learning about themselves in the process. Discovered a click away from this post on gender and embodiment in sci-fi.
Until next time,
Diana
https://dianaberlin.com