[ahane]

i've had a similar intuition and remember also reading somewhere that eventually your underlying data structure will shine through into the user interface, and if it doesn't make sense the whole application feels off.

I've first had this intuition when working with d3, where the visualization becomes trivial if your data is in the right shape.

Workflowy is another example of an app where there is a minimal disparity between data structure and interface.

Does anybody have other examples of apps or games that share this deep integration of structure and interaction?

[beaconstudios]

I would say if you look into systemic games, you will find similar characteristics. I don't think it's so much that the data structure is tied with the interface that is the root cause of the emergent beauty, but the fact that the representation of the concept is accurate and true with minimal compromises. This is a very hard thing to do well. So from end to end it's more like the interface represents the data & logic which represents the design which represents the concept.

For examples of games I've played that I consider fairly systemic and enjoyed on this level: the deus ex series, minecraft (a very strongly systemic game), factorio, watchdogs. Apps-wise I can only think of my own app right now but I'm sure they're out there. Actually, come to think of it, the product planning software I use (productboard.com) is pretty great in this regard but not to the extent that games are. Most software just isn't big enough to have enough features to be truly "systemic" in my eyes.

[danShumway]

On the game side of things, also check out Spelunky.

A lot of effort has gone into making interactions consistent and universal, so really interesting stuff can happen and it's not difficult to figure out why it happened.[0]

Spelunky was a big motivator for me to think more about building what I think of as these kind of "honest" systems, for lack of a better word.

[0]: https://www.pentadact.com/2012-07-13-shopstorm-a-spelunky-st...