Discover
Sit with the problem long enough to know what is actually being asked, then say it back in fewer words than the brief used.
INNOCENT
Interfaces are made of decisions, and the smallest ones decide whether the work feels considered or accidental.
Motion exists to communicate, not to perform - every animation has to earn its place against the version with no animation at all.
Restraint is a feature; the discipline to remove an element is harder, and rarer, than the impulse to add one.
Performance is part of the design - a beautiful page that stutters is not a beautiful page.
Good systems make the boring work fast so there is room for the careful work to be slow.
Taste is just paying attention for longer than is reasonable.
Architect
Decide the shape of the system on paper. The cheapest place to move a wall is before it has wires in it.
Build
Write the version you would be embarrassed not to ship. Boring foundations make room for the moments that earn their motion.
Refine
Remove everything that did not make the cut. The site is finished when there is nothing left to take away without changing what it is.
