This article originally appeared in the August 1997 issue of:
Features
Sidebar:
The Ecology of Improvement
(a.k.a. The Freeman
Elegance-Gestalt Principle)
Improving the elegance
of one part of an entity without addressing the gestalt of the whole will
negatively effect the perceived elegance of every other part of that entity.
For example, you just had the leaks in your car's brake system patched,
causing such pressure that your whole worn-out brake system blows out
on you. Or you just bought a new pair of jogging shoes, which make your
previously sufficient blue jeans look plain tacky. Or you just found a
way to add realism to the movement of one of your characters, rendering
all other characters jerky and sick in comparison. "Amazing," you mutter,
that pale look of what-are-we-going-to-do-now-really-quickly all over
your face. "They all looked great yesterday." The lesson: Don't consider
change in one area without first considering its ramifications on every
other part of your design.
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Features
Improving the elegance
of one part of an entity without addressing the gestalt of the whole will
negatively effect the perceived elegance of every other part of that entity.
For example, you just had the leaks in your car's brake system patched,
causing such pressure that your whole worn-out brake system blows out
on you. Or you just bought a new pair of jogging shoes, which make your
previously sufficient blue jeans look plain tacky. Or you just found a
way to add realism to the movement of one of your characters, rendering
all other characters jerky and sick in comparison. "Amazing," you mutter,
that pale look of what-are-we-going-to-do-now-really-quickly all over
your face. "They all looked great yesterday." The lesson: Don't consider
change in one area without first considering its ramifications on every
other part of your design. 