Kinopio
I’m glad HyperDev is finally out there, and I’m proud that people seem to really like it. But I also can’t not see all the other things we need to do with it.
I’m with this turtle life
🐢
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Once upon a time…
Artists Engineers Selling albums Selling versions Selling albums Selling versions CDs Boxes Record shops Computer stores The awkward teen years…
Artists and producers Engineers and designers Live performances Subscriptions Releasing singles Releasing features Streaming Web apps, app stores Spotify, Apple Web, iOS, Android Not too long now…
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Art and Engineering get closer everyday. Subscriptions push constant iterative improvements. Platforms help us discover new stuff, but as the the relationship between creators and their fans becomes more personal, the best stuff is just between us.
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In software, like with art and fashion, sometimes what’s old is new again. When it comes to playful creative software, Kid Pix is a kind of software product we don’t see much anymore.
In 1989, Craig Hickman released Kid Pix for his infant son who enjoyed Mac Paint on the original Macintosh, but because he wasn’t able to read yet, struggled with the menus and traditional art tool (brushes, paints, pens) based UI metaphors. Kid Pix is charming and engaging in a way that’s aged remarkably well.
The first time I used Kid Pix it had color and I was a wee tyke in grade 4. It definitely made an impact, probably for no other reason than because it was fun, and had wacky sound effects. Kids are easy that way.
Looking back on it, Hickman was the rarest of people who type things for a living. Both a talented programmer and an ace designer who used empathy and observation to build a creation tool with a real sense of fun, whimsy and imagination.
According to his handy retrospective, Hickman designed Kid Pix around some interesting principles:
- Every feature should either be obvious or should explain itself through use.
- Be satisfying to use by making the process of drawing as important as the picture created.
- The program would include tools that would be surprising and visually unusual. Things like like effect filters, stickers and stamps that weren’t based on traditional art tools.
- The eraser should be whimsical. Because reasons. And because destruction should be as fun as creation.
- Uses system standard UI conventions to help users new to computers learn basic principles.
I’ve learned in the last couple months how important laying-out and describing your product principles upfront can be. It’s work that pays for itself over and over again – especially when you add teammates.
Good principles force you to make tough, sometimes moral, choices upfront based on what personally feels right. They may not be perfect from the start, but just like life, changing as you grow and learn new things is totally cool.
In grade 4, Kid Pix was simply a good time with colors.
20 or so years later, it still is. But now it’s obvious how good Hickman really was. His process was timeless, so was the result.
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You should read this. Maciej Cegłowski is the man.
There’s a reason we still fly Boeing 747s designed in the 60s. The internet of 2060 may well be, more or less, kind of the same. Hopefully, It’ll still be doing the same job – connecting people to people, information and cats.
Our job is basically to not fuck this up.
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