I love this quote:

“I'm snuggled under the covers with Jon Stewart and the remote. The "Evolution/Schmevolution" skit is funny, but it's been a long day, and I'm fading fast. The promise of technology is that I'm one click away from slumberland. I hit the power button. The picture disappears, but the TV is still glowing a creepy blue that will haunt my dreams if I don't make it go away. I try the tv button. Nothing. The cable button. Nothing. What the %$*&?? I kick off the blankets and trudge over to turn off the miserable box at the source. I can't help but wonder, as I lie there, now wide awake, how it is that all the things that were supposed to make our lives so easy instead made them more complex. Why is so much technology still so hard? “

It's from an article in Fast Company.

So why is so much technology still so hard?  I would suggest it's because most geeks are not in touch with the users.  Most people who design technology are geeks.  Personally, I use my wife as a test.  Recently I purchased a Logitech Harmony 676 Universal Remote.  Best Buy had it for about $200.  That's a lot of money for a remote.  I bought it because I was sick of how hard my TV is to use.  When we get a babysitter, or others come to visit, I have to leave written instructions on how to operate my TV.  My hope was that the Logitech remote would solve this.  I mean, it's won awards for how great it is.  I took about 30min to set it up.  It worked pretty well for me.  Then, I left it on the couch and told my wife we had a new remote.  I didn't give her a manual, and didn't give her instructions.  She sat down, and couldn't get our TV to work.  I could have pressed a couple buttons and gotten it up and running, but that wasn't my goal.  To me, the product failed.  I returned it.

I know at least 6 or 7 geeks, all who write and design software, that have the same problem.  Something that is simple to a geek, is not simple to the majority of users.  Either the geeks have to get this, or someone else needs to design the user experience.

This isn't the only reason there is a problem.  It's my experience that users themselves create complexity.  It's especially difficult when you are developing a single UI for multiple users that have a different idea of how a system should work.  All of the features they suggest are critical.  I faced this problem while working at Urban Science.  If you are forced to implement one UI for all these users, you end up creating something that is complex.  Every time you add a feature, or a configuration option, it's one more piece that a user has to learn.

Simplicity is better.  I'm on board.  There are some great examples out there. The article points out some, but not all.  Look at what 37Signals is doing. I started using their Basecamp product about 2 months ago.  I currently have 3 projects running using Basecamp to manage them.  I can't say enough about it.  It's simple, and my clients all love it. Before it, we would trade emails, send around spreadsheets and word documents.  With Basecamp, we communicate through the site.  It helps me create more transparency with my clients, so they can know exactly what I'm doing for them.  If this system was complicated, I wouldn't use it.  I have company presidents coming to my Basecamp site.  I can't waste there time by not giving them the information they want easily.

From now on I will preach simplicity.