Simplicity: The Other Key To A Best Seller
Yesterday I wrote about how your file can be destined for the FlashDen hall of fame by making it flexible. A few “Denner’s” pointed out that keeping it simple is also important, which is absolutely true as well.
In a way, the two terms are basically co-related and co-dependent. If a file is flexible it also needs to be simple enough to update for anyone, and if a file is simple in design it is automatically flexible for a wide range of end uses.
Is Simple Hard?
Simply put, simplicity can be a hard thing to achieve. But simplicity does not have to be about being bare, in the sense of being featureless, but more about being easy to use and most importantly innovative.
Every file you create has a design process in it. Be it the interface, the backend, the XML structure or your ActionScript – everything is designed to function for it’s purpose. The key to keeping it simple is not by removing everything till you are left with a blank canvas, but by just having enough to convey your point.
In a way, simple design can be conveyed as good design and to understand good design I cannot explain it better than Dieter Rams himself {the head designer of Braun} -
- Good design is innovative.
- Good design makes a product useful.
- Good design is aesthetic.
- Good design helps us to understand a product.
- Good design is unobtrusive.
- Good design is honest.
- Good design is durable.
- Good design is consequent to the last detail.
- Good design is concerned with the environment.
- Good design is as little design as possible.
- Back to purity, back to simplicity.
I’ve also embedded a SlideShare presentation that I got from a recent TechCrunch post that talks about web design for startups today. You can read more on the post to get a better context view point.
What are your thoughts on “simple”? How do you integrate the concept of simple into your files?
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I think simplicity is a big factor. The ability to have an application that is complex be used by a novice is key. Good post
Having only the essence in front end is what the buyers prefer.
As we need to fulfill the needs of buyers having slightly different needs, we should have as much as options in the backend to make sure majority of them feel easier to customize as well as to avoid frequent support requests. As the same buyers going to consider about end users (website viewers), we need to keep the front end with minimal design and user friendly navigation. So there is a necessity to balance both with right decisions according to the market’s needs (if our target is sales and usage instead of excellence of a product).
Researching the similar products and it’s feedbacks on the market would help to find essential features that has good sales potential and also to avoid failure attempts due to having imbalanced options/features. Sometimes we need to be ready to cut some of the features to reduce the complexity (on both front end and backend). This is where the sharp understanding about market’s needs becomes necessary.