IN DESIGN: BASIC = CLASSIC
My new remotes - IF ONLY !
When it comes to design this idea of basic is good counts double.
When you are creating or making something that people are going to use simplicity of design is to be prized.
The amount of crazily over engineered stuff that we see these days is frightening. Feature creep can cause real problems especially if it distracts from core functionality and usability.
“A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.” – John Gall (American author and retired paediatrician)
In the design stages it is tempting to value features above usability. This is made worse by the fact that the number of features is often used during the sales process to sell a product or service.
In practice people value usability above all but the most essential features. It’s not the number of features that matters it’s the number of features you can use. It’s a question of alignment.
Simplicity and elegance of design help people master enough of a tool to make use of the more advanced features. It’s a sign of design excellence when advanced features are easy to access when you need them but don’t interfere with usability for novice users.
Some good advice from innovation guru Stephen Shapiro:
“Next time you are designing a process, a product, or a service, ask yourself, “What can I remove?” For most consumers, simplicity is more important than comprehensiveness (and complexity).
The concept of “taking away” is also a great time management technique. In addition to your “to do” list, be sure to create a “don’t do” list. Become masterful at killing products, eliminating non-value adding tasks, and removing old/pointless habits.”
So what I am saying here is that less is often more as long as its the right ‘Less’ for the person in question.
Less is more – The notion that simplicity and clarity lead to good design.
“The art of simplicity is a puzzle of COMPLEXITY.” – Doug Horton (clergyman and academic leader )
One often has to really work through some complex and difficult problems to get to a place where a solution or a design can seem simple.
When it comes to design simple rarely means easy to accomplish.
Often simple means blood sweat and tears but it’s worth it.
Our goal is to eliminate complexity whenever possible while remembering Einstein’s advice.
“Everything should be made as simple as possible but not one bit simpler”
