One of the stories on this week’s episode of Diggnation, discussed by Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose, was about Douglas Bowman, Web guru extraordinaire, and his recent departure from Google. In a recent blog post by Bowman, aptly titled “Goodbye, Google“, he gives insight into why he left the organization and a potentially fundamental issue with Google’s engineer-everything approach. Is it wrong for Google to be wary of drastic design changes? I would imagine that many large institutions are reluctant to change that may adversely affect millions of users. Let’s take a look at Bowman’s argument as well as some insightful comments by one of the biggest Internet celebrities.
Douglas Bowman has been responsible for the design of many of the Web’s greatest sites, for more details on him I encourage you to check out his blog, StopDesign, where he often posts very interesting details on design, typography and interesting observations in addition to an outstanding portfolio. As per “Goodbye, Google“, Bowman spent three years with Google leading the Visual Design team, fulfilling his desire to impact millions of users everyday. One of the early problems Bowman discovered was that he was the first classically-trained designer at the then seven-year-old search juggernaut. While Google is all about the data, Bowman found it difficult to accept the way the company applied mathematics to everything – including design decisions. In the blog post Bowman writes,
“When a company is filled with engineers, it turns to engineering to solve problems. Reduce each decision to a simple logic problem. Remove all subjectivity and just look at the data. Data in your favor? Ok, launch it. Data shows negative effects? Back to the drawing board.”
While this philosophy works for engineers, by offering binary solutions, it hindered Bowman’s ability to to make “daring design decisions”. While I understand Bowman’s frustration with need to justify “minuscule design decisions”, Google is most likely not looking to make daring design changes. Of course, I say this as YouTube is preparing a complete visual overhaul.
Design, particularly with Google, is there to support a technical foundation – something Google, in its minimalistic way, excels in doing. The redesign of Google Documents was an amazing transformation in both looks and usability – I have no doubt that it was Douglas Bowman leading these changes. I understand that data reliance, when it comes to design, can be overkill, but you must take into consideration feedback and be rational in any decision.
On a similar note, Kevin Rose, founder of Digg and co-host of Diggnation, had some great quotes while discussing Bowman’s post. Rose pushes the idea of “lets just build something – get it out there – release early, release often and iterate” to his team at Digg. In his opinion this is the “only way to survive against a scrappy start-up” and I feel this rings true – after all, a start-up can often push out new technology out faster. As a company grows and becomes more bureaucratic rather than entrepreneurial, this can be difficult – Rose addresses this by saying that it is a “tricky balance to strike as you become a larger company”.
In my opinion Google needs to be wary of massive design changes, but wasting resources on deciding between 41 shades of blue is just unnecessary. Bowman has proven himself as a premier Web designer and should have been paid more respect. I look forward to seeing what impact Douglas Bowman has in his new position as Creative Director at Twitter – maybe a rotation of floating fail whales.
