The Complexity Curve: Designing for Simplicity – SxSW 2012
William
In Philosophy, SxSW, Usability, User Experience, Web Design Posted March 15, 2012
Watches and digital clocks point to a system that looks simple but is actually very complex. Only a few buttons, but presses, sequences, and the manual are all difficult to understand or remember.
“I know it [simplicity] when I see it!” Designers see: Space (white space), Noise (visual cleanliness), and Hierarchy (typography) IXD see: Functionality (interactivity), Context (user goals), and Flow (structure) People see: Relevance (clutter), Difficulty (standardization), and Confusion (what I need, when) Scientists see: CHAOS! (Lorenz Systems – Unpredictable but deterministic)
Models of the systems are: The Mental Model which is what the user expects from a system, The Concept Model which is what the designer uses to design the interactions, and The System Model which is the capability structure of the way the system is working. Mental and Concept model mismatch causes confusion.
Beware when designing off copies. Each copied pattern must solve the same problems for the user and fit the overall UX.
Beware of “Dark Patterns” like Interactive ads or other properties that cause an unintended action to take place on a normally passive action.
Scope Creep that kills simplicity: Forgotten scope – things not in the spec Executive Bungie Jumping – full scope not comprehended. Tech/Legal – unrealistic constraints Business Units – build in exposure to System Model
Difficult tasks only seem complex because we often lack the needed knowledge to understand the flow of the system and we become experts.
Expertise is moving from declarative (telling yourself steps) to procedural (following a set path memorized) to automatic (second nature reflex) learning
Build in patience around a design, make changes slowly. Be prepared to jump, however, when forces push you forward into new technology – Retina Displays, Battery Cars. Users can have motivation to continue despite hurdles if it’s the only way to solve the problem.
Teach your users and put people first. Be sure to hide the System Model unless absolutely needed and to that end, work to match the Conceptual to the Mental with research. Don’t be afraid to evolve your Conceptual Model to meet changing user needs and Mental models.
Work to shift the complexity of the system from the user to the system, sure it takes more work but we should be doing more work to deliver the user a simple experience. Remember, we never lose complexity, we just shift it.
Critical thinking is key: Question your assumptions of the system, question the consequences of your decisions, question reasons and analyze opportunities, and question the simplicity of a system continuously.
Ten Opportunities for simplicity:
- Users claim the interface is “Messy”
- Users forced into indirect actions
- Trying to be everything to everyone
- Design by consensus
- “Nice to Haves”
- Copied solutions from elsewhere
- Solution mapped to system rather than mental model
- Leading with the tech
- Self designed systems
- Accepting assumptions
Take Home
UX Designers need to think about why a system has chaos. By looking for options for simplicity and thinking critically about the solutions that can
See Also
#SXsimplerUX
