John Maeda
John Maeda
John Maeda is an American executive, designer, technologist. His work explores the area where business, design, and technology merge. He was a Professor at the MIT Media Lab for 12 years, and then became the President of the Rhode Island School of Design from 2008 to 2013. He is currently Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers where he advises startups on the business impact of design. He also serves on the Board of Directors of consumer electronics...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDesigner
CountryUnited States of America
With regard to what is designed really well, I think people are the best-designed objects in the world. Seriously.
Think of the computer as a spiritual space for thinking.
A designer is someone who constructs while he thinks, someone for whom planning and making go together.
Technological advances have always been driven more by a mind-set of 'I can' than 'I should' Technologists love to cram maximum functionality into their products. That's 'I can' thinking, which is driven by peer competition and market forces But this approach ignores the far more important question of how the consumer will actually use the device focus on what we should be doing, not just what we can.
When you're younger, think less and do more; when you're older, do less and think more.
All I want to be is, someone that makes, new things and, thinks about them.
What’s next for technology and design? A lot less thinking about technology for technology’s sake, and a lot more thinking about design. Art humanizes technology and makes it understandable. Design is needed to make sense of information overload. It is why art and design will rise in importance during this century as we try to make sense of all the possibilities that digital technology now affords.
Design is about crafting an experience that is unfamiliar enough to feel novel, yet familiar enough to instill confidence.
The artist needs to understand the truth that lies at the bottom of an enigma.
The best scientists that I've met are those that are humanists and scientists at the same time.
Videogames are indeed design: They're sophisticated virtual machines that echo the mechanical systems inside cars.
Art shows us that human beings still matter in a world where money talks the loudest, where computers know everything about us, and where robots fabricate our next meal and also our ride there.
As a genre, videogames take our minds on journeys, and we can control and experience them much more interactively than passively - especially when they are well-designed.
How do we slow down what matters the most and speed up what benefits change and progress? We don't want to impede progress, but we are seeking reconnection to ourselves, to each other, and with the world.