Design
5 min read
The case for a smaller home screen
I deleted 41 apps in one evening. Three months later I've reinstalled four. Here's what the rest taught me about attention.
Idris Kaan
Filed under
Design
Objects, screens and signs that get out of the way.
I counted 63 apps on my phone one Sunday night and deleted 41 of them before bed.
The rule was simple: if I couldn’t remember opening it this month, it went. Banking, maps and the camera stayed. Almost everything else could be reached from a browser.
Three months on I have reinstalled four: the train app, a parking app, a scanner and a podcast player. I haven’t missed the other 37.
The surprise was how quiet the phone became. A smaller home screen is not a productivity trick. It is a way of deciding, once, what deserves to interrupt you.
Written by
Idris Kaan
Idris is a product designer in Rotterdam. He writes about tools, screens and the habits they shape.
