Simler gets the design right, and kicks Facebook's b*tt

Posted by Jaan on September 10th, 2009 | 2 comments

It’s hard to design clear, intuitive screens in web apps. Yet Portland, OR tag-centric networking start-up Simler is full of them. Click something, and you’ll be presented with a nice, clean screen that offers snapshot clarity. It’s a joy.

Here’s an example, my tags screen (click it for a bigger version). Clean, informative, with good use of white space. And it’s damn pretty too.

Another thing Simler does well is managing notices and alerts (below). This is what Facebook’s permissions screen should look and read like instead of the rubbish they offer up. Simler’s screen is contextual clarity in action.

Despite all of the goodness, Simler is far from perfect. Not entirely surprising as it is only 3 months old and not even in public beta yet. But @dane_hesseldahl and @MrRyanGoodwin have got off to such a good start that I couldn’t help myself posting about their work.