experience

development & design shape our product experiences

bridges

As children, we often hear stories of butterflies. We are awed by how a caterpillar can become a winged creature, as if blessed with some kind of magic. It feels almost surreal to look at what seems like two different insects, and yet we know they are one and the same.

A caterpillar is the foundation to a butterfly. It carries its bands of colors like FOSS projects carry principles or unconference goers carry t-shirts. The difference is in how it moves. A caterpillar is significantly slower, its vision is limited to what is in front of it, it cannot enjoy gliding in the wind.

When it comes to software, in order to become a butterfly, code must bridge in constructive loops with design.

Development is the behind the scenes framework that can make everything run well, design is what translates that framework into something we can understand and use. As design and development interact, the human connection with a product becomes smoother, like gliding in the wind. It is understandable, like having the vision of a landscape from higher up. It is enjoyable and familiar, like a butterfly that does not need to think that it’s flying, it just does.

When development and design can walk back and forth, building better experiences, a product has left its cocoon.