Caterina Fake Article

Caterina Fake


Caterina Fake, the co-founder of Flickr, is now Senior Director of the Technology Department at Yahoo, who acquired Flickr in 2005. In this interview article, entitled "A Conversation With Caterina Fake," she discusses her roots in web design, particularly online communities and social software (such as multiplayer online games). The photo-sharing site was developed when the funds for the game ran out. Flickr features photo tags, which allow users to find photos concerning a certain subject or topic area. Photos can further be flagged as either public or private. This photo sharing site is similar to blogging, in that there is a large social network and the majority of photos are shared with the general public. Photos can be edited (cropped, framed, etc.), downloaded, uploaded, and printed on Flickr. Sort of the YouTube equivalent but for photos instead of videos.

At the end of the article, Fake is asked, "What is design?" She replies by saying that "great design is invisible, and you don't see it until you need it." This is my favorite part of the whole article because lately it seems that all I can think about it good vs. bad design. With the Burger King coffee cup lid, it was designed to deal with a situation - spillage. I didn't see that this was an example of good design ("invisible") until the situation arose (spillage), and this simple, nice looking design solves the problem.

Good design is supposed to accomadate what you need it to do without getting in your way. Louis Sullivan, an American architect, coined the phrase "form follows function." In this case, the shape of the lid and the way it's designed follows what the lid is supposed to do.