Simplicity talks

Simplicity in design means making a product easy to understand and use, so that people can reach their goals without unnecessary effort. It is not the same as having few features: a simple product hides complexity where possible, presents it in a clear structure where needed, and makes the common tasks obvious.

For UI and UX design, simplicity is one of the strongest arguments for good design, and also one of the hardest to achieve. Every added option, setting or message has a cost in attention. Some complexity is unavoidable because the task itself is complex, and the designer’s job is then to make it manageable rather than to remove it.

The two talks here come from TED Talks. David Pogue argues that “Simplicity sells” (2007), and Don Norman talks about “Living with Complexity” (2014). They are tagged with business strategy, complexity, design and interface design. Patterns such as reduction and progressive disclosure in the UI-Patterns.com library are practical ways to keep interfaces simple.