Design Challenges at Google

In this month's issue of WIRED, I was lucky enough to write a little piece about constraint in design and used the Google homepage as an example. Today, I came across a really great post from Doug Bowman, visual design lead at Google. Today is his last day with the company, and he explains some of the challenges he faced working in an engineer-focused culture, including this little gem:

Yes, it's true that a team at Google couldn't decide between two blues, so they're testing 41 shades between each blue to see which one performs better. I had a recent debate over whether a border should be 3, 4 or 5 pixels wide, and was asked to prove my case.

It's a fascinating little read and a good reminder not to take things for granted. Good luck, Doug.