Simplicity: rules and guidelines

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Iván Redondo's picture
Iván Redondo
· 20/06/2015

Imagine an electronic device with hundreds of options and functions but without a touchscreen like we now have on every smartphone. You’re probably thinking of a terribly complex gadget plagued by confusing buttons. Well, a few years ago a group of designers created something called the iPod which only had 4 buttons and a touch wheel, revolutionizing the market and ensuring, among other things, that Apple become the company it is today.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Before talking about simplicity and its benefits, let’s look at Gestalt Psychology, an area of modern psychology that came from Germany in the 20th century. These are its main ideas:

• Rule of common direction: This states that elements that seem to build a pattern, or that flow in the same direction are perceived as a figure.

• Rule of simplicity: This states that elements that seem to build a pattern, or that flow in the same direction are perceived as a figure.

• Rule of the relationship between foreground and background: This says that the brain can’t interpret an object as both foreground and background at the same time.  Depending on the perception, it’s picked as one or the other.

This rule is the strongest and most important because it encompasses all the other, driving the principles of organization that say foreground is observed when it overlaps a more neutral background.

• Rule of equality or equivalency: When there is a collection of varying elements, people tend to group those that are equal or similar. We put this rule separate from the others so it doesn’t get lost because it means you should keep important elements at equal distance. Furthermore, if the differences are based on color, then the effect is even stronger. Taking this one step further, if you have equally shaped objects of a common color, you can use this phenomenon to your advantage.

• Rule of enclosure: Perimeter lines more easily show a figure than the lines within the figure. Circles, rectangles and triangles create this surrounding effect. This new law makes sense since it implies that parallel lines are more defined and stable at showing a space than simple points.

• Rule of experience: From a biological standpoint, the nervous system has been shaped by exterior influences.

One clear result of this is that the brain has a lot of mechanisms which are dedicated to identifying visual cues. For example, when seeing a drawing of box made with only one stroke so that it’s not closed, our mind is able to fill in the blank and imagine that it is closed, just like John Maeda explained in his book “The Laws of Simplicity”.

In web environments, simplicity is vital because it betters the relationship between user and the company, whether that’s a newspaper, a clothing store, or a theater ticket vendor. For both business and user, simplicity is crucial: the user will easily reach their goal and the business will have satisfied clients.

However, the objective should never be simplification for its own sake. The objective is to minimize user frustration when faced with complex tasks. This is done by using comprehensible design which creates good user experiences; simplification and simplicity are only a method of achieving this objective, so don’t just go removing things.

Returning to the great John Maeda, we’ll summarize the 10 laws of simplicity that this MIT scientist and intellectual spelled out in his book “The Laws of Simplicity”.

1. Reduce. The easiest way to be simple is through thoughtful reduction. Keep only what’s truly important and ditch everything else.

2. Organize. Organization can make a lot look like a little. Carefully pick spacing and get creative to make a complicated structure simpler.

3. Time. Cutting down on time makes everything simpler. Spending more time on what needs less is a waste of time.

4. Learn. Knowledge makes things simpler. Always know what you should do and how to do it, no more, no less.

5. Difference. Simplicity and complexity need each other. What seems complex could be simple, and vice versa.

6. Context. What surrounds simplicity isn’t just peripheral. It’s part of the simplicity.

7. Emotion. More emotion is better than less emotion. You should use simplicity to create positive and motivational feelings.

8. Confidence. You should be confident in simplicity. Simple is preferable to complex, every time, whether because of money or frustration.

9. Failure. Somethings can never be made simple. Like Albert Einstein said, “Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

10. Uniqueness. Simplicity is trying to eliminate the obvious and adding only what’s significant. That is, keep what’s important and unique.

So remember, if you can make it simple, do it.

 

Main photo: Fernando Gomez
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