{"id":2896,"date":"2024-12-04T10:20:08","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T10:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.praxonomy.com\/blog\/?p=2896"},"modified":"2024-12-04T10:20:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T10:20:13","slug":"keeping-it-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.praxonomy.com\/blog\/keeping-it-simple\/","title":{"rendered":"A 14th-century theologian, Steve Jobs and the Rolling Stones all ‘Keeping it Simple’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By <\/strong>Alan Hewitt<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The massive growth or at least media awareness of AI and in particular technology products like ChatGPT has got me thinking, again, about how we design and build applications and whether we have the right focus when it comes to what we want and, more importantly, what we need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in March 2019 I wrote a Blog Piece called \u201cThings to Consider When Designing Technology for Boards\u201d<\/a> in which I quoted a section from an excellent book called The Design of Everyday Things<\/strong> by Don Norman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDesign is concerned with how things work, how they are controlled, and the nature of the interaction between people and technology. When done well, the results are brilliant, pleasurable products. When done badly, the products are unusable, leading to great frustration and irritation. Or they might be usable, but force us to behave the way the product wishes rather than as we wish.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This led me to think about whether we are over-complicating applications by adding functions and capability just because we can rather than because we should. AI has and will continue to offer up all manner of possibilities as to what we can add to applications with the intent of making things better. But more may not be better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William of Ockham, a 14th-century logician and theologian, wrote a proposal, a problem-solving principle arguing that simplicity is better than complexity, now referred to as Occam’s Razor, which states: \u201c<\/a>The simplest solution is almost always the best<\/strong><\/a>.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This got me thinking \u2014 maybe we should really be focussing on what we need rather than what we want? I think I\u2019m not alone in this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An exchange<\/a> on Reddit kicks off with the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m a techy myself but I’m seeing all these digital products that are just getting complicated with each iteration. I was never into Alexa but my wife decided to get one. As we were checking out the app, we noticed the insane amount of menus, options, features. I understand that not everyone is using every single feature but goddamn having all these features just makes the product cumbersome to use. Before you call me a boomer, let me say that I’m a millennial and I work in tech. Yes, the irony.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or this article on design fundamentals, <\/em>Simplicity vs Complexity in Product Development: Striking the Right Balance<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, which <\/em><\/strong>opens with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore diving into the intricacies of achieving the right balance, it’s important to define simplicity and complexity in the context of product development. Simplicity refers to the clarity and ease of use of a product. It involves removing unnecessary elements and streamlining features to create an intuitive experience for users.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the other hand, complexity encompasses the depth and intricacy of a product. It involves incorporating advanced functionality, multiple features, and an array of options to cater to the diverse needs of users.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the tension is clearly not a simple problem but it does suggest that we focus more on simplifying what we build and want to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry, author of The Little Prince<\/strong>, said, “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.\u201d Now Antoine wasn\u2019t a software coder nor had any involvement in technology design but maybe he was onto something here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Jobs, who knew a thing or two about how to make products simple to use for his customers, said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat’s been one of my mantras\u2014focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why do we choose to make our lives and applications so complex?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found this article<\/a> by <\/strong>Chris Dowsett, Director of Data Science and Insights @ Spotify. Ex Instagram + Intuit. PhD. Social Scientist, on chrisdowsett.medium.com<\/a>. Chris says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first thing to know is that our minds are hardwired to make situations more complicated. It\u2019s called Complexity Bias.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cComplexity Bias is one way our species distinguishes itself from other animals. We can make things complex and smarter, so we\u2019re different.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also overcomplicate things as a mental shortcut to conserve mental energy. Overly complex things are seen as out-of-reach or impenetrable and therefore we surrender the need to \u2018understand\u2019. Why bother trying to understand something that\u2019s beyond us?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe interesting side-effect of this mental shortcut is that we are naturally suspicious of simple things. Our brains crave complexity, and we see complex things as superior. Thus, by opposition, simple things are less desirable to our brains and we bias away from them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuman beings also naturally crave patterns. Our brains are continually looking for patterns in nature and in cause-and-effect. We have a hard time accepting random chaos \u2014 aka simple chance. Instead we believe there must always be a pattern or reason for an event.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would strongly suggest that you read the whole article as it gives some insight into why we make things more complex than they need to be and why in fact we actively search out the complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To summarise, in spite of our natural inclinations, simpler things are easier to understand and use and tend to lead to better outcomes. So maybe we should be designing and building simpler products that are more intuitive to use and focus on the things we really need rather than on the things we think we want. Maybe if we could get coders and product designers to think this way we would be able to buy better products that make us more effective and efficient without getting in the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I may be biased here as this is the philosophy that we at Praxonomy have adopted when building our board portal, Boardlogic, to meet the needs of our clients and not necessarily the wants. Those needs will evolve, usually slowly, over time and we will use the latest technologies, AI included, to fully meet those needs but not at the expensive of simplicity and ease of use. Good software applications should assist you almost without you realising it. That\u2019s where we started with my reference to the book, \u201cThe Design of Everyday Things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To conclude, maybe The Rolling Stones<\/strong> really do get it right when they sing, \u201cYou Can\u2019t Always Get What You Want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t always get what you want<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t always get what you want<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t always get what you want<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you try sometimes, well, you might find<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You get what you need . . <\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about our secure, user-friendly board portal, Boardlogic here<\/a>
Or why not schedule a demo with us here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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