“To clarify, add detail. Imagine that, to clarify, add detail. Clutter and overload are not attributes of information, they are failures of design. If the information is in chaos, don’t start throwing out information, instead fix the design.”

Edward Tufte tells why more is more in his discussions of ‘Interface design and the iPhone’.  The video he has posted is particularly interesting as he demonstrates how adding detail increases the clarity of a message, or in this case the ability of a mobile phone handset to perform better when delivering all messages to the user by minimizing computer admin debris and maximizing the amount of relevant data that is displayed.

If the iPhone has already transformed what people consider to be a ‘good user experience’ on a mobile phone then Tufte has wasted little time showing us how it could be better still. But does that mean that Apple’s efforts to use increased screen resolution to improve the clarity of type and images rather than to add more information are misplaced? I think it depends on what your preferences are, and the answer is to provide a choice – zoom in to see more detail,  simply extending Tufte’s point that screen information becomes the interface.

The point he makes so well is not specific to the mobile phone and, as ever, he makes us think about the application of this across all the design work we deliver regardless of the media. It’s not about detail, it’s about good design.