Jamie Zawinski was involved in the development of free software programs such as Mozilla Firefox. The major design principal he dealt with was ‘software bloat’. This was the idea that all successful applications tend to expand. For instance, Zawinski helped design Mozilla, but it was later redesigned to accommodate more users. He believed that applications would start off smaller and focus on more detailed tasks. At this stage the applications are more efficient. However, as these applications gain popularity they expand and start taking on new roles. He was under the belief that as these applications become larger, their functionality decreases.
A good example of this is Facebook. When it was first created, Facebook was primarily used for networking. As it grew in popularity, more and more applications were added to the site and as a result it has become less efficient. While it still has a lot of users, the initial purpose has been consumed by the newer additions. This is important because these applications essentially become difficult to use. With the loss of usability, sites become less relevant and we miss out on potential communication tools.
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