Simplicity…
What is it?
Is it needed?
How do I know if a design is simple enough?
Here’s a ‘Simplicity Test’ for your designs. Judge your designed product or process against the following list. You can assign a numerical value to each category and rank the design and the ‘what ifs?’.
The design is S.I.M.P.L.E. if it embodies the following:
S – Sublime-ness
I – Implicit; The more that needs to be made explicit the further away from simple you’re going.
M – Mysterious; As in, filled with mystery – it makes you say "Wow!" "Why didn’t someone thinks this before?" "How does it work?"
P – Pleasing; To experience, it does what it’s supposed to- it’s experienced as what it’s supposed to be.
L – Longing; At best, it creates a sense of wanting to return to product/process/system. At worst, it doesn’t scare people from coming back.
E – Emotive; Brings forth positive emotions or doesn’t elicit negative emotions.
How would, what you consider great designs, stack up?
