Just think S.I.M.P.L.E.

In design disciplines such as industrial design, simplicity is often considered to be a virtue. But for some reason, simplicity does not seem to be a virtue in software design. Why is it so? I personally believe that a lot of the software is not designed by designers with the right mindset. And even if they do, they are run over by sales people and engineers.

Here is my definition of S.I.M.P.L.E. which helps me get into the right mindset and understanding what is most important when designing user experiences:

Suited for its purpose
Intuitively understandable
Made to work
People-centric
Less is more
Empirically validated

Here are a few of my previous posts related to the subject of simplicity:

• Expensive Things Must Look Advanced
• What Users Say They Want Isn’t Always What They Need