Layers in everything

I am deeply impressed by The Elements of User Experience… Jesse James Garrett shows how you can peel off layers of a web site and break the user experience into basic elements that belong to different layers (planes). My work as a designer is deeply influenced by this idea. Even to such an extent that I now tend to see layers in everything around me.

Not exactly the same as Photoshop layers…

From the surface to the core.

Books. I am talking about non-fiction books here. In my simplistic world, fiction sits closer to art.

Art. This might be the area where making layers as obscure as they can be is the intent. That is why it is often difficult to see the intent of a piece of art. You need to take time to figure it out and appreciate it.

Buildings. Know the layers, and know how to build it. Understand the dependencies… where things belong.

Also: web apps, music, cars, trees. Body, soul, spirit.

What to do with this idea?