Thoughts on Clay Shirky’s “Arrogance and Humility”

By Matt in Design, Commentary, Usability

If you’re not following A Brief Message, the new venture in insight, brevity, and forward-thinking presentation masterminded by the inimitable Khoi Vinh and Liz Danzico, do yourself a favor: visit the site and absorb the complete archive. Don’t worry, it’s only five posts long at the moment, and each one runs about 200 words. (The average so far is exactly 210, actually.)

The latest article in the series is Clay Shirky’s “Arrogance and Humility,” wherein the esteemed author discusses the extremes on the spectrum of motivation in design and how those values manifest on the web and in society at large. It’s one of the better posts so far, and like all good writing, has spurred some interesting dialogue. What follows are my thoughts on Clay’s column.

Why I Think Good Design is Not Arrogance

I don’t like calling good design “arrogant.” Designers can be arrogant, of course, but a well-designed thing shouldn’t necessarily imply an inflated sense of importance on the part of its designer or its owner. That great designers can tell what people want better than the people know themselves isn’t arrogance; it’s talent. And it’s something for which we should all be thankful.

I would also argue that the iPod is objectively better than MySpace. The form and functionality of the iPod are so brilliantly and complementarily designed that they have, as Clay put it, “created, then owned, a category.” (Which category? Todd G. put it best in his comment: “The category is ‘MP3 player that millions of people would actually buy and be able to use.’”) The iPod is a cultural phenomenon for a reason.

MySpace, on the other hand, just happened to be the site that caught on early in the social networking space, due mainly to situational factors and the realization that customization was a key to the user experience. The idea behind the site is a useful but unoriginal one, and its social networking aspects are neither innovative nor impressive. What makes MySpace special is the ability to completely customize one’s profile, which is ultimately an aspect of functionality, not design. And that’s especially true of MySpace: the tools that make that customization possible, like the rest of the site, are an abomination of usability, and their shortcomings very likely engender the poor results we love to hate. Of course, it doesn’t have to be that way, and if MySpace hadn’t provided the option, another site would have, potentially with a well-designed implementation. But now that MySpace and its myriad features have crystallized into a relied-upon vehicle for social networking, the chances of an extensive repurposing and redesign are zero. I would question the long-term success of this model, but the millions of other poorly designed things to which we’ve all grown accustomed prove that people make a lot of allowances. Clay is spot-on in this regard, pointing out: “MySpace demonstrates that users prize participation, even at the expense of clarity.”

The iPod and MySpace are not opposites. MySpace is useful but ugly. The iPod, however, isn’t pretty but useless; it’s pretty and useful. This is why the age-old contraposition of “Function vs. Form” is misleading — I don’t like the implication that the two are at odds, and I believe the most perfect products are those that wed good design and good functionality.

The hideous result of putting users in charge of aesthetics doesn’t mean they resent good design — it’s simply evidence that most people are not talented designers and don’t care about design at all on a conscious level. Of course, that doesn’t render it unimportant to them. I’d wager a healthy majority of MySpace users own at least one iPod.

My concern is that this widespread attitude is actually regarded as evidence that good design is inherently a product of arrogance. Instead, I believe it’s an unfortunate trend in which design is unjustly cast as a pretentious artistic endeavor, rather than a craft focused on the harmony of functional elegance — that is, making the things that allow us to do what we want to do quickly, easily, and with eminent aplomb.

Note

Clay Shirky’s research and wisdom in these matters far exceeds my own, and I feel honored to share this space in such a way that allows me to respond to his ideas so easily. Indeed, without his post I never would have been inspired to spend a few hours organizing my thoughts here. I recommend taking the time to read a few of the essays on Clay’s website for a sampling of his intuition and intellect.