This morning’s cup of tea - October 28, 2008

via Planning from the Outside: Mark Lewis has some insightful thoughts on notions of reduction as referenced in John Maeda’s The Laws of Simplicity. I am particularly drawn to the idea of simplicity reflecting humility, as aluded to here.

via Maschmeyer: a Firefox plugin that goes beyond blocking banner ads, and actually replaces the offending images with pieces of contemporary art. The imagination runs wild with variations on a theme.

via Compete: the top criteria that drive consumers’ choice of bank. Fascinating, and revealing data, well presented.

via Innovation Playground: Choice vs. Commoditization

Fantastic (!!!) post from Idris Mootee over at Innovation Playground the other day, centered on the idea that providing equally-weighted choices actually does the consumer a disservice, serving only to confuse him.

This gem:

Each sushi dictator has his own pet peeves, but there is common ground. Most do not allow sushi bar patrons to order off the menu. Instead, diners must accept whatever the chef gives them, a tradition known as “omakase” — a Japanese expression that can be loosely translated as “trust the chef.”

Well worth your three minutes.