Simplicity: The key to successful products and a happy life
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I’ve always admired people with the innate ability to simplify and eliminate the unnecessary. The kind of people that stand out from the crowd naturally, just because the necessary speaks out for them. Some people’s approaches are so simple that they can appear so beautifully sophisticated.
One of the key reference people in my life was my dad. An extremely simple person in many ways. I learned a lot from him about living a happy life with simplicity and how to make the complicated simple with creativity.
Complication VS Complexity
I have noticed that most people tend to complicate their life. We complicate our life when we are ignorant about our own ego and greed, unrealistic expectations and irrational fear. Moreover, I think that a lot of people unknowingly mix the meaning of complication and complexity together. Complication is just a long and intricate road that leads to confusion and frustration. In fact, statistics confirm that approaching a problem with a complicated problem solution is going to fail 99% of the time.
A great example to understand the difference between complex and complicated is the couple relationship. A relationship can become complicated when one or both partners do not take full responsibility and expect things to go right. However, a good relationship can be complex and work perfectly at the same time.
An effective solution for a complex problem doesn’t necessary have to be complicated. As a matter of fact, it is the contrary. Simple solutions working all together can unfold the complexity of one big problem.
Complexity is when different simple solutions are working together to achieve a bigger goal.
Simple design solutions in a complex product environment
During my career I’ve noticed that a common problem in product development is that people tend to over-complicate the life of a product. Exactly as they do in life. However, simplicity can play a big role in product design, as much as in life.
A good rule in product design is to embrace good visualisation tools that help you to unfold complexity and encourage you to ask questions you didn’t think of before. If you step back and embrace the overall complexity, there is a better chance of finding simple answers that matter the most. In contrast, if you only focus on one specific task, neglecting the rest, the solution will be less predictable and, in the end, more complicated.
Moreover, it is very good to break down the problem into many small problems. In this way, it will be easier to analyze, research and define simple design elements for each and every problem.
Personally, I never start designing until I know exactly what the design is going to look like in my mind. Many designers solve their problems while they are sketching, and there is nothing wrong with that. I also used to do that, but personally this approach gave me more problems than anything else. With this process of breaking down in mind, the final design is always very close to my original design solution.
However, “Simple Design” is never just simple…
The term simple design is often misleading. Simple design is never just “simple”. Neither does simplicity mean “less”, “minimalist” or “easy”.
It is much harder to come up with a simple design solution than it is to visually reproduce complex contents.
The first goal of creation is to visually simplify complex contents using the methods of design thinking. Focus on the essentials and highlight the really important parts, by leaving things out of the way that aren’t really necessary. This approach is not an easy process, and it can be very hard to decide what you’re going to leave out and how you’re going to go about it.
“Good design is as little design as possible”
— Dieter Rams
To narrow the focus on what is really relevant and what isn’t, you need a lot of knowledge. Knowing the product’s value and the user’s needs is the first and most important step before knowing what and whom to focus on.
Knowledge in life makes everything simpler than we think.
Moreover, achieving simplicity throughout a design-thinking process is a never-ending task. To create a successful product, the process of eliminating distracting options and reducing the unnecessary has to be continuous throughout the whole design-thinking process. As long as your product evolves, you’ll have to constantly work to achieve it. It is essential to constantly reconsider the overall product, features and architecture. Therefore, in order to create a better, simpler user experience, there will always be parts of the product that can be improved through constant reassessment.
Consistency and continuity are the best tools for a simple design-thinking solution.
So simple design is never just simple. On the contrary, the simpler a design appeals to the user the more time and effort went into the concept and design-thinking process.
“Design is so simple. That’s why it is so complicated”
— Paul Rand
A successful product? Keep it simple, stupid!
One of my mottos in product design, as in life, is “Keep it simple, stupid”.
Throughout the years I have realized that the more choice you give people, the easier it is to let them choose nothing. The more options a user has, the more difficult it will be to use the product, and the easier it will be to not use it at all.
In order to provide a more enjoyable experience, it’s better to eliminate choices and keep the experience easier, more intuitive and fluid. This helps the user to solve problems faster and “get things done” in an easier and better way. Simplicity in product development definitely improves adoption and increases customer satisfaction.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
— Leonardo Da Vinci
In conclusion
Simplicity is a lifestyle. Something I have learned, through my journey to become a better designer and a better person, is to find happiness in the simplest of things. Simplicity for me enables the right features to empower the creation of the right foundation for an happy life.
The master builder of human happiness is finding beauty in simplicity.
It isn’t easy to find and enable the mindset of thinking simple, though. Sometimes we just need to go deep down and touch the bottom to understand the timeless beauty of it, and then go up again.
I hope you found this inspiring and thanks for reading.
Have a great day!
