Minimalism in Interface Design

I remember a professor of mine comparing web design to sushi, colorful, tasty, fresh, and presented in small portions or chunks. I take this notion for design in general, and I wil be talking about Minimalism as a general strategy for interface design, whether for web, software, or information interfaces, or others.

Minimalism should not connotate a lack of functionalities or a weakness in the power of the interface as Wren and Reynolds point out in their Paper (pdf) . They argue that minimalism diminishes the cognitive demands on the users by inhibiting the set of behaviors associated with the interface's functionalities. What it does in short is make the interface more transparent and more Calm.

I actually searched for a formal definition of interfaces on the net without finding one that pleases me or that addresses the general notion of it from a philosophical point of view. Interfaces are border lines between two entities. They define the area of interaction or exchange between them. Interaction itself engenders changes in both entities. They act and react according to the events and happenings hosted by the joining interface.

People spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to operate complex interfaces. Designers actually regard interfaces as their works of art, their creations. Most of them devote lots of time trying to show off their competences in designing interfaces, making the latter more elaborate and mazy. From my experience, I believe that interfaces should be as transparent as possible like the side of a fish tank, so people can interact with the information and components of the system directly rather than through the interface tools and commands. Transparent interfaces can render interaction "natural" by eliminating the border lines themselves, or at least some of them...