Hey Gerry!

Very thought provoking post. Especially liked the interesting extra links.

Two things came to mind, though.

First one is there perhaps aught to be a differentiation with products that satisfy an immediate need, and their simplicty verses products that while satsifying an immediate need are more aimed towards potential future needs. I suppose a more interesting thing to know would be generally, which do people prefer?

The second thought is do you think with the increase of the integration of the web into daily lives that the simplicty we desire and demand on the web will transition into the more real-life, tangible assets?

Hi Gerry,

Excellent post. I agree with you: simplicity is what is needed. Simplicity is best. Maybe it's because life is incredibly complex today, but I believe many of us yearn to simplify things as much as we can: the last line of your post says it all!

"We simply don't have time to waste on complex navigation, convoluted language, or the vanity publishing of navel-gazing organizations." Enough said.

Gerry:

I think we'd all agree that "simplicity" when defined as "easy to use" is a good thing and "complexity" when defined as "not easy to use" is bad. But a clean and elegant home page may be perfect for an ad agency while a link-laden portal works best for professionals who know what they're looking for.

The best way to measure the effectiveness of a web page design is to test the thing against what you're hoping to achieve -- are people buying more, staying longer, downloading more. We used Vividence (now Keynote) to get the best read on web design up front and if you can do this kind of pre testing, I'd recommend it.

The deeper lesson here, though -- timing is everything, as I just wrote a post on this and am planning on putting it up later -- is that our preconceptions about what is "simple" or "elegant" or "correct" for that matter, should be subordinate to what our customers expect of us.

Thanks -- good post.

I do not understand Mr. Norman's statement at all. Are you sure that he is referencing the web and web content? In this brief quote he sites no examples whatsoever. Is the the complete statement? It is rather unbelievable and almost seems to be taken out of context in this instance. An aside: I have been a fan of the clean simplicity of the clean modern design and content of Dwell magazine for some time, but never visited their web site until today. What a dissapointment; there was no simplicity to be found. It was so cluttered and busy that I spent 0 time there. Thanks so much for your post and opinions.

Thanks for all the feedback. I think Stephen makes a particularly good point in relation to defining simplicity and complexity. Simplicity should mean easy to use.

What we really need are easy to use complex websites and products--because, after all, life is complex.

Gerry,

Amen! We do a fair bit of web site design for clients, generally as part of an overall marketing effort (not in a vaccum). The hardest part of building a new site for an existing company is getting those heavily invested in the site-that-is to look at it from their customer's perspective. Just because YOU think you need a huge section of the site-that-will-be devoted to the company's history, including each successive CEO, does NOT mean your customers are necessarily interested. The web site is not about you telling your customers what you want them to know. It's about your customers being able to easily and quickly find exactly what they want or need from you. Truly intuitive, customer-focused sites require an inside-out approach, and the concepts can be complex. But, the ultimate creative triumph is making something complex appear to be simple.

Another important aspect of simplicity is the amount of copy. People don't like to read a lot - their subconscious craves brevity and conciseness.

Lastly, the aforementioned focus on designing for the customer is paramount. Asking what value does this sectional content serve to the client is key. Would someone really be interested in reading this?

I concur with Gerry's and Mandy's comments. It is easy to make a complex task complicated to execute.

The real goal of user-centric design in understanding the users' needs and creating a process or design metaphor that simplifies the complexity.

I have, in the past, had to argue against adding features to products just for the sake of having the feature. We've all seen web applications with long lists of configurable options on a page that scrolls on for eternity. This only serves to frustrate the user.

Instead, create a way to make that same list of options less intrusive, but still available to the user. If they need to make a configuration change they can, but it doesn't get in the way of the primary function(s) of the application.

Ivan

Gerry,

You start off quoting Norman's opinion that "simplicity does not sell."

Then, you counter with "there is a strong motivation to spend as little time as possible."

I totally concur with your take. In fact, in my opinion the only reason for a business (who does not actually have a point-of-purchase retail site) to have a website is to attract interest from potential customers or clients and create a contact. Oh, there are secondary reasons for having a site such as serving as an electronic brochure or for keeping customers informed, but unless a product is actually purchased on the website and a shopping cart is used to checkout, then the website needs to create the contact. That's pretty simple.

Keep it simple. Inform, create or stimulate the interest, and enable the contact. That's an effective website. Simple means streamlined - just the essential information in an easy-to-read format with good title tags so it is easy to find. Simple does not have to mean boring or amateurish in design. But go real light on entertaining and strong on the message.

Steve

Excellent post, Gerry!
I agree almost with everything. To my mind, a professional web site must possess 3 main qualities: simplicity of navigation, attractiveness (but not complexity) of website design and the main goal (the purpose of web site creation) that comes through all the contents, images, etc.

Gerry,

There are three vital aspects to creating a website that brings you lots of visitors and converts them into valuable customers:
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* Design – to make your site attractive, practical and interesting
* Marketing – to bring the right people to your site
* Content – use the right words to transform your visitors into customers

The simplivity of navigation is the main question. But as for me, I prefer flavour web design.

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Simplicity is ok for a professional web site but it's seriously no no for a merto hip website

Simplicity is ok for a professional web site but it's seriously no no for a metro hip hop website

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