I’ve been a long time supporter of ‘design simplicity‘ for many reasons that I wont go into here. However, I came across this great observation by Seth Godin
He explains why we add too much:
“…As digital marketers seek to increase profits, they almost always make the same mistake. They continue to add more clutter, messaging and offers, because, hey, it’s free.”
Why it’s frequently a poor idea:
“In fact, human behavior tells us that this is a more permanent effect than we realize. Once you overload the user, you train them not to pay attention…”
And concludes:
“More is not always better. In fact, more is almost never better.”
While there are occasions when Choice Architecture can dictate that ‘more is more’, I think the principle of simplicity or focus in a age of increasing complexity is nearly always an improvement for users.
Seth Godin: The inevitable decline due to clutter
Tags: simplicity
