Journal Entry 3

Limitation is rarely held in a positive light, because it is regarded as a force of annoyance that holds us back from accomplishing our goals. However, as we have discussed in past entries, limitation is not all bad. In fact, my master and I not only invite limitation, but even manufacture limitation. This intentional restraint is key in our development efforts.

Ask yourself which is worth more – to take everything you have and haphazardly pour it all out, all your qualities fighting for attention, or to carefully examine your assets and decisively select what is offered and what is withheld at any given time, in an effort to make each moment a pointed experience. Some would say that more is always better, but we disagree. At times, simplicity is more beautiful than extravagance.

Some of the greatest works of art in history are some of the simplest, and most artists will tell you that art is a balancing act between definition and abstraction. Not all that exists is to be displayed at one time. For instance, should every work of art contain every color known to man? No, the greatest works of art maintain a restrictive color palette. Palette – that is the word; and the same applies to the development of entertainment media. Just as an inharmonious color palette is grating, so is an interactive experience that lacks structural limitation in its visuals and mechanics. To offer all is to make all bland. How dazzling is a sunset at the end of a long, gray day? But, can you imagine if the sky always looked that way? How long would it be before you grew sick of its overwhelming intensity? Only with reservation can simple things seem like magic.

This is not a lecture in color theory – color is just an illustration, though it too plays a part in this development process. This involves every element of a user’s experience, the decisions we have to make every day – to put it in, or to leave it out? And if we choose to put it in, what is the most tactful way to do so? Is it a complementary high note within the symphony, or is it a piercing screech, ringing in our ears throughout the whole day?

Everything must be thought of in terms of a palette – a visual palette, a mechanical palette, a narrative palette, a cognitive palette, an emotional palette, and the list goes on. What is the desired style of the experience? A developer must hold true to that style, even when he is tempted to go too far, or the unity of the experience will fall apart.

This limitation feels restrictive at first, but when working within its confines, it is wholly liberating. It gives the developer answers to questions before he even asks them. It smooths the development process, keeping it flowing singularly. It is pure freedom. Not the freedom from limitation, but the freedom of limitation.