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Complexity is a moving target

While simplicity can lead to innovative thinking, complexity is often used to impress rather than to help.

Complexity is not all bad. Some complexity is desirable. When things are too simple, it is often boring. The ideal level of complexity is a moving target - the more expert we become, the more complexity we prefer. We can find a good balance by asking if this complexity level adds to the experience or overcomplicates it.

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Edsger Wybe Dijkstra

"Simplicity is a great virtue but it requires hard work to achieve it and education to appreciate it. And to make matters worse: complexity sells better."

EDSGER WYBE DIJKSTRA

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Why we are drawn to complexity

We associate complexity with expertise, innovation, and authority.

Complexity is often smoke and mirrors. Marketers are aware of the allure of complexity and will exploit our complexity bias by using jargon to impress rather than to inform customers. For example: “Util...

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The power of simplicity

Simple thinking can lead to better plans, communication, and execution.

  • The KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid) makes simplicity a key goal in design.
  • Less is more. Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe always repeated this...

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We prefer complexity over simplicity

We prefer complexity over simplicity

People tend to prefer complex solutions over plain ones.

  • Complexity can make products look more impressive - and marketers know how to take advantage of it by projecting authority and expertise.
  • Complex processes can give the illusi...

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Antoine de Saint Exupéry

"It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

ANTOINE DE SAINT EXUPÉRY

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Complexity is a moving target.

Complexity is a moving target.

In Living with Complexity , Professor Donald Arthur Norman wrote: “When things are too simple, they are also viewed as dull and uneventful. Psychologists have demonstrated that people prefer a middle level of complexity: too simple and we are bored, too compl...

Why we are drawn to complexity

We associate complexity with expertise, innovation, and authority.

Complexity is often smoke and mirrors. Marketers are aware of the allure of complexity and will exploit our complexity bias by using jargon to impress rather than to inform customers. For example: “Util...

Effort makes a task less attractive

Mental effort is costly, so we generally prefer to work on an simple task rather than a hard task. We procrastinate more if we expect a certain task to be hard.

This happens because the more effort a task requires, the more someone stands to gain by putting the same amount of effort in...

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