Why Simplicity Matters
The scientific theories and real-world evidence proving that simplicity in design is the best approach.
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1939
Decisions, decisions…
Decision-making can be exhausting. You may have had to make difficult choices in your life. Agonising ones. Choices where each option seems equally valuable, or ones with a lack of clarity on what lies ahead. Moments like these drain our mental stamina, i.e. our patience/capacity for focus.
Frequent, smaller decisions are no different. We’re quite used to making thousands of these every waking hour, but excessive demands on the human brain lead to Decision Fatigue.
Decision fatigue, as well as any other form of exhaustion, reduces our capacity to carry out tasks. We’re more likely to start working on something when we’re well rested and tend to avoid tasks when tired. So, if you’ve been making tough calls all day and then get asked to make even more, you’re more likely to give up.
Easing choices
The more options we face, the harder it is to make a selection. The fewer, the easier. Design simplicity focuses on reducing decision-making effort by reducing the number of options available in a decision.
The more we understand about each option, the easier it is. Design simplicity aims to make the right information available to users at the precise moment they need it, so that they don’t have to store so much information in their short-term memory.
Goodwill / enthusiasm
We approach tasks with finite enthusiasm. The more enthused we are, the longer we’re willing to endure the process of completing the task. Simpler tasks are less demanding, so are more likely to be completed. Simpler tasks also erode our patience/capacity for focus less, meaning we are more likely to take on another task.
Now, imagine you run an eCommerce store and every task a user carries out translates to a sale. Given that simpler tasks are more likely to be followed by a user starting another one, what impact would simpler design have on your revenue/sales volume?