Google's first visual designer Douglas Bowman explains his reasons for leaving and critiques the company's over reliance on data and reductive philosophy which he argues handicaps Google, "paralyzing the company and preventing it from making any daring design decisions."
I had a recent debate over whether a border should be 3, 4 or 5 pixels wide, and was asked to prove my case. I can’t operate in an environment like that. I’ve grown tired of debating such minuscule design decisions. There are more exciting design problems in this world to tackle.
It seems to be the classic tension or dichotomy between the quantitative and the qualitative. Anyway, it's an interesting read that pulls back the curtains a bit.
[Via]