Simplify me!

Yesterday we had a family discussion over computer problems- my 90 year old mum complained about a document she opened and everything was underlined in red- she didn’t know how to make it disappear. Since she changed her laptop she has quite a few software programs on it in their new versions that don’t function as they used to. My brother said that he would be willing to pay to keep the same programs because every upgrade creates problems…

Let’s face it, most software programs we use have way more features than we’ll ever need. And that is the reason why it sometimes can take you hours to do a simple task- because the simplicity is hidden in a zillon possibilities.

I wonder why software like Word doesn’t ask you right after installation what you want to use it for, what is your field of activity and your age and then sets up the basic modules that do what you need with optional modules that you can add in case you want to do something out of the ordinary. 

I’ve published on this topic before: The future of software lies in simplification. You do not want a zillion features, you just want those you need. You do not want endless information; you just want pertinent information you can trust on the topic you are researching. 

It is curious that big data cares more about selling you something than making your life easier with the data it collects…..