Joel Spolsky had earlier suggested that simplicity is not about fewer features but about the right features and “elegance”. This time he writes about elegance:
If you’re using the term simplicity to mean “grace and economy” or “elegance,” that’s terrific. A great example of this is the difference between the way you search for music on Rhapsody and the way you search for music on iTunes. Rhapsody makes you decide if you want to search for albums, tracks, or artists. iTunes doesn’t give you any choice: it just searches all fields, which works just as well and is easier. Economy means power, in this case, and it’s a feature.
Hi Sharad, I recommend a write up by Don Norman, he has written an excellent article, which defies traditional thinking; I have reproduced an excerpt on my blog at:
http://mukulblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/simplicity-is-highly-overrated.html
Hi Sharad, Mukul -
Mukul rightly pointed out the customer’s perception on design.
But from a developer’s perspective, DESIGN involves co-ordination between your right and left brain.
Not too many teams have good mix of people who have right and left brain capabilities.
Hence you find so much disparity between the products(Rhapsody and iTunes) doing the same function.
High time companies consider the artistic talents of students during campus recruitment.
Regards,
Arun.PC
Hi Arun,
Regarding your comment: “But from a developer’s perspective, DESIGN involves co-ordination between your right and left brain. Not too many teams have good mix of people who have right and left brain capabilities.”
I think, companies should hire “designers”, who design the usability and simplicity aspects of the product/service.
Thanks,
Mukul.
Michael Shrivathsan has a nice post on “Five Tips for Creating Products With Kick-Butt Design” here. Worth a read!