Alex's Notes

There was once an architect who built a cluster of large office buildings that was set in a central green. When construction was completed, the landscape crew asked him where he wanted the sidewalks between the buildings. “Not yet,” was the architect’s reply. “Just plant the grass solidly between the buildings.”

This was done, and by late summer the new lawn was laced with pathways of trodden grass, connecting building-to-building and building to outside. “The paths followed the most efficient line between the points of connection, turned easy curves rather than right angles, and were sized according to traffic flow. In the fall, the architect simply paved in the pathways. Not only did the pathways have a design beauty, but they responded directly to user needs.” (from mindpower)

Isn’t this a elegant organic design philosophy? Can we program applications that respond so naturally to the users’ needs?