Where I got my inspiration

The sources of inspiration that shaped the vision behind the Dueuno UX.

Olivetti — The design

We start with Olivetti and its idea of bringing design into industrial objects, not only as form, but especially as ergonomics. The goal was not just to make machines look good, but to make them friendly, accessible, and respectful of the people using them.

The Olivetti Valentine designed by Ettore Sottsass (with Perry King and Albert Leclerc)

As Adriano Olivetti envisioned, industry could serve humans — not the other way around. This philosophy later echoed in a famous principle often attributed to Steve Jobs:

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

This idea became foundational for me: design is responsibility.

Apple — The user first

Even though I don’t agree with every decision made by Apple, I recognize how deeply I’ve been influenced by Steve Jobs’ vision of technology:

“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.”

The Apple iMac G3 Iconic Advertisement

In my experience, I’ve heard this question too many times:

“Where do I have to click?”

That question says everything.

It reveals a gap between intention and execution. Software should not require translation. It should not require training manuals just to perform basic actions.

Observing people using your software is one of the most enlightening experiences you can have as a developer. It forces you to confront reality instead of assumptions.

GNOME — The beauty of simplicity

On a practical level, leaving philosophy aside, the **GNOME Project** has been one of the most important sources of inspiration.

Its GUI represents a concrete realization of the ideas of Olivetti and Jobs. It is clean, intuitive, and does not require instructions. It feels natural.

The GNOME Desktop

At a certain point, GNOME made a strong and controversial choice: it deliberately reduced complexity by removing many features traditionally aimed at so-called “power users”. Instead of designing for a broad middle layer of semi-technical users, it focused on two clearer categories:

• users, who need simplicity and clarity
• expert users, who can rely on advanced tools outside the main interface (like the shell — the Command Line Interface)

In doing so, GNOME effectively removed the ambiguous middle ground — the “power user” who is neither a beginner nor a true expert, but often ends up burdened by overly complex interfaces.

This decision reshaped the interface philosophy: fewer options, clearer paths, less cognitive load.

Good design is not about offering everything — it’s about offering the right things.

Travelling — Minimalism by moving

I’ve lived in several Italian cities — Venice, Rome, Genoa, and Bergamo — and I’ve had to move multiple times. My job also made me travel frequently, by plane and by train.

Over time, I adapted to a more minimal way of moving through the world. When you carry less, you think differently. You prioritize. You simplify.

That’s when the principle “Less is more” became real.

Minimalism is not an aesthetic choice — it’s a functional one.

LEGO — Modular thinking

Finally, there’s something that has been with me since childhood: LEGO.

Growing up building LEGO — and continuing to do so even today — I internalized a deeper principle than simple construction.

Self-contained, monolithic blocks paired with a universal mechanism of connection.

Image from the LEGO Patent

Each block is whole, complete in itself, with its own identity and integrity.

When blocks connect, they don’t lose themselves — they collaborate. They remain whole, yet become part of something larger: structures that are complex, functional, and sometimes even beautiful.

It’s a simple idea, but incredibly powerful.

Dueuno reflects this approach: small, well-defined components that, when assembled, form a coherent experience.

These inspirations converge into a single direction

Nothing here is entirely new. It’s a deliberate process of selecting ideas that already work, understanding why they work, and recomposing them into a coherent whole, applied with intention.

Design for humans Reduce complexity Build modular systems

This is Dueuno.