Last night I attended a workshop by Lynda Chiotti. Today I started to solve my clutter problem. Lynda used Information Architecture principles to help address clutter problems. As she talked about Findability I realized that my clutter problem was directly related to having too many things immediately findable. It was time to prioritize what I needed to find NOW and what I could safely store "out of sight." My biggest clutter problem is in my "craft" room. It is overflowing with craft supplies from bookbinding, spinning, knitting, crochet, quilting, sewing, photography, silk screen printing, fabric dyeing, (and more). Some of these crafts I am actively working on, and some I am not.

Thinking back to Lynda's workshop I realized my clutter problem was just like a software interface problem. The targets I'd created for "stuff" were inappropriately sized. This is where Fitts' and Hick's laws come into play. I first heard read about them in Jef Raskin's book, The Humane Interface (skip to page 93). Fitts' Law basically states the bigger the target, the easier it is to hit. Hick's Law basically says the more information you need to process, the longer it takes to make a decision.

With Fitts' and Hick's laws in mind I grouped my clutter: what tasks do I currently work on infrequently? These tasks could be given a small target with a longer decision making process. In other words: all bookbinding-related materials could be moved to the back of the storage area. "The back" is a small target. It also requires a lot of decisions once I get there. For example: do I want papermaking supplies? Or softcover bookmaking supplies? or ... the list goes on. But I can make that decision once I've reached the back of the closet. And because it is a small target I won't be constantly making decisions on the things I'm NOT doing. 

This afternoon I removed things that were not going to be useful to me in the next year from the bedroom storage area. This included a 3' high stack of compacted FedEx-branded boxes from when I was a bookbinder sending handmade books to clients. Mum will use the FedEx boxes at her store (I called first to confirm they would be useful and thereby not passing clutter from one person to the next). I also removed a black and white laser printer that I haven't decided what to do with, but I can at least touch now without having to climb over things. I believe the printer will go to the electronics graveyard along with a computer that was meant to be set up as a fileserver three years ago.

In the space that I created by removing only one "column" of stuff I moved THREE columns of bookbinding equipment and raw materials to the bedroom storage space. This left a (relatively) enormous hole in my craft room. All of my boxes of fabric and yarn have filled this hole against the wall freeing up the middle of the room to identify the real clutter. The storage areas aren't completely invisible, and the boxes are well labeled, so I am not at risk of truly losing things.

If only digital interface design could be as easy and as obvious this...