I agree. Google is a good model. It's clear that even now they don't really get design. Their rule is just to make everything simple and functional. This means that even though they never manage to do anything inspired (Google has never made anything people would compare to the iPod) they at least avoid a lot of design mistakes. You can probably get 85th percentile design merely by avoiding mistakes.
I realized that Google didn't really get design when they added dropdown menus to Google Docs. Even Microsoft has moved past that. One of the things that impresses me about 280 Slides is the amount of functionality they've been able to pack in without resorting to a menubar.
I agree. Google is a good model. It's clear that even now they don't really get design. Their rule is just to make everything simple and functional. This means that even though they never manage to do anything inspired (Google has never made anything people would compare to the iPod) they at least avoid a lot of design mistakes. You can probably get 85th percentile design merely by avoiding mistakes.