The Simplicity Imperative

Excellent UX researchers, analysts, and designers possess a rare talent, but it is not derived from mastering the theories, psychology, and methodologies of human-centered design.??It is a relentless and courageous focus on simplicity in the face of a culture that celebrates and rewards complexity.?

The life of a simplicity advocate is not easy. While the leaders of the organization may give lip service to the mantra "Keep it simple!", underneath is a culture that celebrates complexity in its daily operations.

People in high-tech companies especially think (although they may not be consciously aware of it) that spouting technical terms when talking to someone less technical elevates their status. Many consultants use complexity to pitch their services, leaving executives who admire complexity thinking, “Wow! I have no idea what they’re talking about but they sure sound smart!”? ??? Embracing simplicity at the core of an organization's values and practices is essential to its survival.?In today’s breakneck pace of business, we don’t have time to waste on complexity. And our customers—our “users”—certainly don’t want to waste their time trying to master the complexity that the lab has unconsciously infused into our products and services.?

Part of the problem is the Smart People Paradox. Companies rely on smart people to invent complex new technologies. Without them, we wouldn’t have the amazing products we use everyday. But these same smart people are hurting the company by insisting on including unnecessary complexity in the final product design once it is released to customers.?

When I worked for HP several years ago, the mantra around the office was, “Our customers are scientists and engineers. We’re scientists and engineers. We know what our customers want. Our users would be offended if we ‘dumbed down’ our products.”?

This myth of inherent complexity was dispelled when we visited our customers at Los Alamos National Laboratory which, of course, employed some of the country’s best scientists and engineers. These smart people told us that HP’s products had become too hard to use and that they had significantly less time than before to learn how to use them.

Subject matter experts in science, technology, and some business domains have mastered complexity so completely that they often can no longer recognize it. Either that, or they are so consumed with the challenge of just getting their products to work that they ignore the human side of the solution and lose sight of whom they are designing the solution for. The language of complexity may be second nature to them, but it’s not to the rest of us, and understanding it should not be a prerequisite for use.?

That’s where human-centered researchers and designers come in. We possess the perception and skills to domesticate complexity before it reaches the consumer, and it is our responsibility to do so.

So how do you take on the honorary role of Chief Simplicity Officer in an organization that is convinced their technology and business domain are inherently complex—a company that regards making things simple as dumbing things down??You do it by relentlessly reminding the organization of the promises they made to their customers: if you buy our product, we promise you will achieve these results.?

By focusing on promised results, you reveal the extraneous complexity that the current product, process, or service inflicts upon its users.?

Long ago, there was a game show on U.S. TV called Name That Tune. Contestants tried to name a song after hearing only the first few notes, declaring, for example, “I can name that tune in two notes.”

So the Chief Simplicity Officer needs to start a new game in their company called Name That Result. What are the fewest possible requirements the customer/user must do and know in order to achieve a promised result? These should be rhetorical questions, but the Chief Simplicity Officer must constantly ask them to awaken the organization to its unconscious addiction to complexity.

I’ll provide several methods for mapping, measuring, and exposing complexity in Navigating the Politics of UX, Volume 2. But you can start now by:

• Setting an example for your colleagues by explaining yourself with simple words rather than using acronyms and corporate-speak.?
• Rejecting the reliance on training and external documentation as a solution to mitigate the complexity of a careless design.?
• Rejecting the notion that your technology or business domain is inherently complex and impossible to simplify. This is a dangerous excuse. It only works until some startup comes along to prove you wrong.?
• Challenging complexity wherever and whenever you see it: in meetings, in presentations, in training, in marketing, in products, in services, in policies and procedures—everywhere it occurs. Strive toward a culture of simplicity.

Decide right now that you will not join your colleague’s preoccupation with all that complex stuff that is intended to impress but actually only serves to confuse. Certainly your users won’t understand it, nor do they want to.?

They just want the results you promised them—in as few “notes” as possible.?