Simplexity

A recent article in Time Magazine by Jeffrey Kluger entitled “The Art of Simplexity” got me thinking about the human inability to distinguish between things that are simple and things that are complex. (For instance, a nuclear power plant may actually be less complex than a “simple” leaf.) This cognitive “weakness” is both the key opportunity and a primary hazard for those of us in the Experience Design field.

For user experience professionals, the goal is usually to make something complex seem simple. (Apple has a reputation for doing this well.) We “exploit” human perception for the user’s own good. For example, we mask the colossal databases and technical integration points that make a convenient communications tool with a predictive interface possible.

The potential problem is when our own familiarity with an interface we have designed prevents us from recognizing the complexity first-time users would see in it. Constant exposure to the design clouds our own judgement, so it looks simple to us. This is why usability testing is crucial, and why some of the features usability participants stumble on seem easy to us.

I now make an extra effort to judge critically the degree of complexity/simplicity in the objects and interfaces I encounter on a daily basis. It’s not easy!