Oh, hi!
Please feel at home. This is a homepage, in the end.
Some metaphors never die, right? The Web was born as a place to surf across homepages, and each homepage was a table of contents. Nowadays, who cares about table of contents? We want to get the data immediately, to make things happen, to talk to people – not to browse pages. And we don't want to "learn a new app" in the meanwhile: we're there to do things, not to use a UI.
Unfortunately, using technology still feels like... using technology. We still need to adapt to the machine, learn rules and jargon, push buttons like in front of an old-fashioned mainframe, face errors and situations we cannot totally grasp. In some ways, sometimes we feel alone.
Why can't interaction with technology be more humane?
I'm Piero, born in Italy and living around Rome, when I'm not digitalnomad-ing around. I'm a Digital Craftsman: that's what I've been doing for 21 years. But you can call me a Senior UX/UI/Product Designer, with a sympathy for Data Visualization.
My job is making your product simpler and more coherent.
In my spare time I've played with datavis: Ghost in the Data. (Good) Data Visualization is a critical asset. Maybe that's why it's so bad more often than not. Many of the datavis I've seen are uselessly complex: algorithmically createad abstract art, that inspire awe and reverence, but are mere eye-candy. Or dashboards and apps that use figures and charts as a shortcut to reassure and look authoritative.
Can we save data visualization from data fetishism?
And I'm also a fulltime minimalist, by the way, trying to figure out, in everything I do, what's essential, what can be removed, what can I avoid to add, and what should I focus on. For example, while working I use the Pomodoro technique.
Even in this website, I've removed all the bullshit – or, rather, I've hidden it: I've told you what's fundamental up front and let you follow your curiosity. In many digital products there's a clear trend towards minimalism: they're more focused, lighter, smarter.
Are you sure your website or app isn't still bloated with hot air?