Screw You and Your Simple Friend Too
Don Norman, as in the Nielson-Norman Group, has a truly interesting piece on the end of simplicity. He ponders about our perceived obsession with simplicity, despite the trend in the other direction.
Because the people want the features.
Because simplicity is a myth whose time has past, if it ever existed.Make it simple and people won’t buy. Given a choice, they will take the item that does more. Features win over simplicity, even when people realize that it is accompanied by more complexity. You do it too, I bet. Haven’t you ever compared two products side by side, comparing the features of each, preferring the one that did more? Why shame on you, you are behaving, well, behaving like a normal person.
The ultimate conclusion is that marketing wins in the end, as it rightly should. The simple fact is that people make choices based on the features that are available - we'd be remiss to pay more for less, especially when our pocketbooks are opened.
This line of thinking is most interesting as it seems in stark contrast with the current trends in software design. While there are no shortage of sites lauding the Less Is More Mantra, it is somewhat refreshing to still know we're not all crazy for wanting just a little bit more.
technorati tags:don+norman, simplicity, design