Make it simple

It is quite often to hear customers complain how complicated it is to use a specific feature or a product in general. I think many factors contribute to this, like:

a). The inherited technical complexity
This happens when problems to be resolved are very complicated. It is not always easy to find a simple and elegant solution. However, how to use a feature and how to implement it are different issues. A complicated implementation can be simple to use if unnecessary complexity is hidden from customers. For example, use intuitive user interface or add intermediate layers to do things underneath etc.

b). Primary use cases not clear
The user cases basically describe how customers interact with the feature. What are the primary user cases ? Who are the target users? Without clearly defined user cases in place, developer may lost focus and put more effort on advanced functions and introduce extra complexity for all customers.

c). ‘Simple’ may have different meaning for different customers
Customers are different with their skills level and background. A simple solution for some customers maybe a complicated one for other. Early UCD evaluation and customer feedback will help to justify and revisit the design.

d). Outside dependencies
Component and Product level dependency may cause significant complexity in installation, setup and integration if the interfaces are not well defined.

“Can you make it simple?” — a good question for myself and it always deserves a good answer.

Well, this is my first post. No picture. No video. Click “Publish” in wordpress dashboard and it goes to Web right away.

Simple enough :)