Product Simplicity is Relative

Seen Adobe Photoshop?

Let’s talk about relative simplicity:

We don’t think of “simple” when we think of Photoshop, we think of “complicated”. We compare it to cheaper products that can do many of the same things.

But what Photoshop does is bring previously-very-complicated image manipulation actions into press-this-and-its-done territory.

It makes almost-impossible activities accessible.

There are many products and services that inhabit this same space. They’re called complex because they have many buttons, when the number of buttons isn’t the point.

When striving for “simple” in our work, we’d all benefit from remembering that “simple” is relative to the consumer and their needs.

Make something that makes it simple for them by using their definition of simple.