Sometimes You Can't Design Simply

The iPhone and iPad are used as case examples for great interface design. Jonathan Ives, the designer for Apple devices, took a page from Dieter Rams, the designer for Braun, and focused on simplicity of design.

Apple’s designs are cited as being intuitive. If you give an Apple product to a child and ask them how to accomplish a task, they inherently know how to do it. It’s hard to design this way. You have to be comfortable making decisions which some people will not like. It’s easier to add another button than to remove one. It’s easier to add an option than state you won’t include a feature.

This is the reason Apple’s designs are considered ingenious. Apple focused on simplicity of use rather than having a device that is everything to everyone. They lose some potential customers in doing this, but have intentionally made the decision, to market to the masses.

People Don’t Read Manuals

The manual, just like the box the new item came in, is immediately disposed of. When you design assume people will never read the manual. People only read documentation when something isn’t working.

Documentation is great. But, I’m a developer. Developers – often associated with analytical personalties – like reading manuals whereas expressive and driver personality types don’t.

If documentation isn’t available, Developers play with the settings and interface to see what the advanced features are. Developers are curious by nature. Developers want to figure out how to maximize the utility of something. Developers want to know how things work.

Complicated systems easily fit into complicated design patterns. It is difficult to build something that doesn’t need a manual.

Some Things Need to Be Complex

If you are a designer, and love the idea of simplicity of design, try to work for a hard science domain. I challenge you to try to make the cockpit of an airplane have an easy-to-use interface.

Even Apple Express - a simple Wireless access point and broadband router - has a manual because it is complex.

Some systems and interfaces don’t lend themselves well to the simple design pattern. But, don’t use this as an excuse to not do simple design. Systems that need to be complex are used by few. You can build for mass-consumption by designing more simply and removing the “some people requested” features.