Three secrets to simplicity

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.” Charles Mingus quotes (American jazz bassist and Composer, 1922-1979)

The 3 lures of complexity

Published on: March 3, 2009 by Paul Boag

In '10 harsh truths about corporate websites' I outlined 3 reasons why website owners shy away from removing content...

• A fear of missing something - By putting everything online website owners believe they are giving users easy access to everything they need to know. Unfortunately, with so much available, it is hard to find anything.
• A fear users will not understand - Whether it is a lack of confidence in their site or their audience, many website managers feel the need to provide endless instructions to users. Unfortunately, users never read this copy.
• A desperate desire to convince - Many website managers are desperate to sell their product or communicate their message. Text becomes bloated with sales copy that actually conveys little valuable information.

However, I think there is more to it than that. First, there is a general laziness. It is easy to leave content online. It takes effort to remove it. Second (and more importantly) there is a desire to please users. If a user asks for a feature or piece of content, we feel obliged to provide it.

3 questions that encourage simplicity

Adding functionality requested by users is not always a good idea. You need to ask 3 questions...

• How many people are asking for it? - If only a few people request a piece of functionality, there may not be the demand to justify the time and money.
• Who is asking for it? - If it is not being requested by your primary audience then you should probably not be building it.
• How will it affect others? - With new functionality comes complexity. Will that functionality confuse some users? Will it distract from your main call to action?

What then do you do if your site has become overly complex? How do you achieve simplicity?

3 steps to achieving simplicity

According to 'The Laws of Simplicity' there are three practical ways you can simplify anything, including your site. These are:

• Remove elements
• Hide elements
• Shrink elements

Let's look at how these steps work in practice.