The MAYA Principles
There are a small number of core principles that we adhere to across our various practices. We find ourselves coming back again and again to these fundamental design patterns within our work. We have found that they provide a framework not only for understanding challenges, but also for solving them.
Taming Complexity
Complexity is everywhere—from operating rooms and board rooms to our own living rooms. While designing complex tools, products, and interfaces that operate intuitively is a tremendous challenge, it is important to avoid over-simplification. Simplification can weaken your product by removing functionality, nuance, and richness, stripping it of the potential power and value of greater complexity. We package complexity in ways that make sense. With this approach, people will prefer your product over others, you’ll save a bundle in training and support costs, and technological changes will present new opportunities rather than roadblocks.
Interdisciplinary Design
We believe that the most complex, interesting, and potentially world-changing solutions lie at the intersection of the human sciences, engineering, and design. MAYA’s interdisciplinary project teams move quickly to understand a wide range of technological, sociological, user-experience, usability, and business issues. An interdisciplinary approach allows us to devote more attention to design, instead of refereeing communication and territory problems between departments. It also breaks down real and perceived barriers. Further, we include you on our interdisciplinary team, working closely with you to achieve your objectives. We bring the strengths of multiple disciplines to projects in a way that complements, not supersedes, the strengths of your own team.
Architectural Approach
To put it simply, a product’s Information Architecture is the only part of a product you really own. The User Interface is simply a rendering of what you own and the System Architecture is that machine that executes what you own. Our goal in placing an emphasis on Information Architecture in the design process is to help you define and capture your company’s unique business logic in ways that withstand technological change. Products designed in this manner allow changes to both the User Interface and the System Architecture without the cost and inefficiencies of redesigning entire systems. This positions you to not only make changes faster than your competitors, but to define the direction of your market.