Comments on: On Simplicity http://birdhouse.org/blog/2006/12/10/on-simplicity/ Like a chicken with a jewel in its beak. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:45:11 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Mike http://birdhouse.org/blog/2006/12/10/on-simplicity/comment-page-1/#comment-32890 Mike Tue, 12 Dec 2006 15:41:42 +0000 http://birdhouse.org/blog/2006/12/10/on-simplicity/#comment-32890 I think it was Alan Kay who said "simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible". (I know lots of motivational design quotes, the hard part is living up to them!) I think it was Alan Kay who said “simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible”. (I know lots of motivational design quotes, the hard part is living up to them!)

]]> By: Deepak http://birdhouse.org/blog/2006/12/10/on-simplicity/comment-page-1/#comment-32484 Deepak Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:42:02 +0000 http://birdhouse.org/blog/2006/12/10/on-simplicity/#comment-32484 I think people misundertand the "less is more" mantra. It doesn't/shouldn't mean that reducing the number of features makes a product better. Every product needs a core set of features that satisfy the targeted audience. In a Long Tail world, that could be interpreted two ways. One - the 80/20 rule breaks down completely, cause too many people want a specific feature(s). Two - the flip side is that one does not need to satisfy the mass market. If an appropriate niche is chosen then one can choose to develop to that niche (which is something that 37Signals do well). The key is to have enough features to make your targeted userbase happy and do it really well. In the end, I always refer Kathy Sierra and her "Featuritis" curve. As a product manager, that was my temple. You don't want feature bloat, but you don't want too little there either. I think people misundertand the “less is more” mantra. It doesn’t/shouldn’t mean that reducing the number of features makes a product better. Every product needs a core set of features that satisfy the targeted audience. In a Long Tail world, that could be interpreted two ways. One – the 80/20 rule breaks down completely, cause too many people want a specific feature(s). Two – the flip side is that one does not need to satisfy the mass market. If an appropriate niche is chosen then one can choose to develop to that niche (which is something that 37Signals do well). The key is to have enough features to make your targeted userbase happy and do it really well.

In the end, I always refer Kathy Sierra and her “Featuritis” curve. As a product manager, that was my temple. You don’t want feature bloat, but you don’t want too little there either.

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