Why’s it so complicated to do things simply?
It’s true, but why?
As users of a digital service, we sometimes might have a few difficulties using a feature. A badly placed field, a misleading heading, a confusing contrast… When we eventually find the means to our ends, often after much toing and froing on different pages, reading and rereading the instructions, one question arises:
But… why didn’t they make that more simple?
All they needed to do was to put the button here… I don’t understand!
Even for digital design professionals, the path to simplicity is far from a walk in the park, and it isn’t rare for the first versions of a digital experience to be stuffed full of significant design flaws which are detrimental to ease of use.
What is simplicity?
Everyone cares about simplicity but it can be completely differently perceived by one user to the next. For example, one feature is going to seem extremely simple to you but incomprehensible to your neighbour, colleague at work or partner. This difference of perception is founded upon a specific fundamental truth of simplicity: it’s multicontextual, depending upon the usage context, the user’s degree of maturity and their mood.
The usage context
This incorporates all of the information relevant to “instant” navigation:
- What page was I just on?
- Was that page on the same site, a different site or a results page from a search engine?
- What link did I click on that page? What was it offering?
- The page I’m on now — is it really in line with my research? Is it relevant to my undertaking?
- Is it offering me actions which lead me down the right path?
- …
The degree of maturity
This incorporates the history of the user and their learning curve in interactivity in general:
- Have I used this feature or similar features on other platforms before?
- Am I familiar with the manipulation of information online?
- Am I comfortable with the computer / tablet / mobile I’m using?
- …
Mood
This is, by far, the hardest to predict:
- Am I in a shopping situation? Or just messing about?
- Am I stressed or hurried while using the feature?
- Do I already have some prejudices about the brand whose site I’m using?
- Am I sensitive to how things look?
- …
Using a universal sense of simplicity to conceive a digital experience therefore seems almost impossible: when using an interface, these three elements intertwine to form a global context, which is unique to every individual and which has a direct impact on the perceived simplicity of an interface.
Creating usage
Nowadays, many designers fail to take this global context into account and try, above all, to give rise to an emotional spark in the user by offering an attractive interface, failing to take a step back and looking at the context. That’s why you can sometimes hear conversations which sound something like this:
“Are you sure? I don’t think that’s very clear…”
“Don’t worry. The user will work it out after a minute!”
But no.
Actually what will happen is that the user will leave.
Mastering Sketch or Axure is one thing. But the real qualities of a designer are observation, empathy and decision-making.
Observation
Whether it’s before or after a project, observation is often neglected despite being the basis of digital design. Today, I consider the place where I learnt my trade as being behind a one-way mirror, watching users getting stuck trying to use such brilliantly designed features…
So, the “user research” and “user testing” stages allow us to set off in the right direction towards offering the user what he or she wants, and to check afterwards that the experience is entirely intuitive.
Empathy
Once we’ve had the slap in the face of a user test, we realize that all of our preconceptions and convictions pail into insignificance faced with the implacable reality of a user who, alone in front of his screen, can’t get past the registration page. To paraphrase a quote by Françoise Giroud :
“It’s not worth coming up with a brilliant site if the user leaves you before getting past the homepage.”
To avoid these disagreeable situations, empathy is an ideal ally, which forces us to put ourselves in another’s shoes. It’s a delicate exercise, which demands a level of practice, and requires us to establish tools such as personae and other user journeys.
Decision-making
One thing is certain. Simplicity often gets missed out in the initial plans. So, during planning, you’re going to have to get rid of some features which seemed interesting up until then. Choosing means rejecting some things. Now, too few brands are really ready to make serious cuts because, in the marketing mentality, the abundance of choice is part of the package for a premium brand. Today, it’s often the opposite: it might be better to only offer one thing, but to do it really well.
“You reach perfection not when there’s nothing to add but when there’s nothing to take away.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Another enemy of decision-making: an overabundance of opinions. The more people there are working on the design of a digital experience, the less chance there is of converging on a simple solution, as everyone will be inclined to put their priorities first — that is, their own global context, forgetting in so doing the context of the end user.
Is that…it?
I’ve seen that kind of reaction when faced with a design proposition.
And the answer is yes, that’s it.
Simplicity is perplexing because a lot of people think it comes from almost botched work, unlike complexity, which is often respected as it’s supposedly the demonstration of the great amount of intelligence required to create it.
Unfortunately, complexity is also and above all the demonstration of the design team’s inability to make choices about the essential features for the end user, and to find the famous Minimum Viable Product.
So, let’s learn to respect the simplicity of a user experience for what it really is: an asset which is difficult to attain and which adds value to your brand at every stage of the client relationship.
P.S. Do you really think that at Apple they ask everyone’s opinion? ;-)
