The Essence and Power of Simplicity in Design

Simplicity in Design

According to Google, Simplicity is powerful. From the Google Corporate information web site, a ‘Googley’ design delights and satisfies people all over the world. Part of the Google design principles states:

Simplicity fuels many elements of good design, including ease of use, speed, visual appeal, and accessibility. But simplicity starts with the design of a product’s fundamental functions . . .our best designs include only the features that people need to accomplish their goals.

Ideally, even products that require large feature sets and complex visual designs appear to be simple as well as powerful. Google teams think twice before sacrificing simplicity in pursuit of a less important feature.

Similarly, Apple Inc has won the hearts of many through use of intuitive, simple designs that translate into a rich user experience. It is in simplicity and elegance that Apple finds its strength.

David Pogue

In Feb 2006, David Pogue gave a talk at TED on Simplicity.

In his usual light-hearted approach, he made mention of Microsoft products, key among these the Windows 2000 [Shut Down, Restart, Log Off and Hibernate] dialogue that has a drop down menu. This he compared with the Mac OS dialogue that simply uses buttons to convey the same information.

He also highlighted the vast number of features in Microsoft Word, very few of which many users ever get to use.

Simplicity: Knowing When to use What - Windows 2000 drop-down

Simplicity: Knowing When to use What - Mac OS buttons

Following is David Pogue’s TED talk:

John Maeda

John Maeda is a leading Graphic designer, artist and computer scientist at the MIT Media Lab. He is the author of The Laws of Simplicity.

He co-directs SIMPLICITY, a radical initiative that seeks to help people break free from the complexity of today’s technology, and redefine the way users relate to that technology in their daily lives.

John also talked about Simplicity at TED in 2007. Following is the video:

With Simplicity, Less is More

Designs that are fundamentally simple are more user friendly. They are more robust and manageable.

Designers should embrace simplicity and avoid incorporating unnecessary features in their designs.