Comments on: Simple http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/2009/06/29/simple/ chapter four - my 30s Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:37:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Adrian Short http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/2009/06/29/simple/comment-page-1/#comment-445 Adrian Short Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:32:49 +0000 http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/?p=176#comment-445 Simple is good for all the reasons you say but simple is really, really hard to design well. Some products (and services) are intrinsically simple. Some achieve simplicity for the user by hiding a huge amount of complexity behind a simple interface (think about search engines). Designing simplicity is about knowing when to stop, knowing when the point of "enough" has been reached. That requires insight, good taste and above all, discipline. My favourite products, all of which are simple in their own way, include the Roberts R24 radio, the all-manual Nikon FM with a prime lens (35/2 will do nicely) and the Rapesco 101 staple remover. Simple is good for all the reasons you say but simple is really, really hard to design well.

Some products (and services) are intrinsically simple. Some achieve simplicity for the user by hiding a huge amount of complexity behind a simple interface (think about search engines). Designing simplicity is about knowing when to stop, knowing when the point of “enough” has been reached. That requires insight, good taste and above all, discipline.

My favourite products, all of which are simple in their own way, include the Roberts R24 radio, the all-manual Nikon FM with a prime lens (35/2 will do nicely) and the Rapesco 101 staple remover.

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