4 ms·
I just disagree with this. I think complexity is laziness on the part of the designer, the marketing team and the management team that probably demands their pr
by jrwoodruff 16y ago
I just disagree with this. I think complexity is laziness on the part of the designer, the marketing team and the management team that probably demands their products appear complex.
For instance, the washing machine that needs two buttons but has 20. Two buttons on a washing machine, if designed well, is a great marketing opportunity. BUT you would have to design it with a way to SHOW the user all of the things that the machine is actually doing, like how the prius shows you what it's doing. Give it a sleek, standout design, and you've got a high-end, high-dollar washing machine.
Thing is, that means someone has to step outside the box and do something different than their competitors. Slapping lots of 'features' on a machine is cheap and gives the sales guys lots of fodder for B.S., no extra training required.
Look at Apple's products, look at the Toyota Prius. Complex machines that simplify the tasks they do. And they're selling very well.
Ultimately, design and marketing have to make simple mean more, not less, to middle America. And someday, probably soon, when every washing machine has 20 knobs and I need to push 10 buttons to toast a piece of bread, simplicity will be the new selling point.
- api 16y agoComplexity is also laziness on the part of the customer. The story about the customer who thought a product wasn't up to par because it was simple, tried it, and then found that it did everything needed is illustrative of this. Marketing rules in business, but that's really too bad. It's too bad because marketing is pandering to the lowest common denominator. If someone wants something stupid, marketing means indulging their stupidity. Marketing never, ever uplifts anything.
- jrwoodruff 16y agoI don't disagree with this, but I think that customer 'laziness' is really just people relying on what they know, and is something that can be shifted. Marketing may never uplift anything, nor can it. However, it can influence how people perceive something new. Marketing, if done well, can transform a radical design or idea into a positive, must-have device. I hate to keep using apple, but I can't think of another company that does this as well as they do. Marketing on the product development end of things, however, is another story. On this side it is certainly true that marketing, unfortunately, seems to rule and often produces lack-luster, pedestrian results.
- Charuru 16y agoI love Apple as much as any other programmer, but we have to remember that they lost the Mac vs PC wars. There is a still popular perception that Macs are for frivolous hippies and PCs is what real people use to do real work. Obviously it's different for programmers and many other people, but we're talking about mainstream marketing here. They did great in the mobile segment because of extremely weak competition and revolutionary new products. If Blackberry had a non-ass touchscreen device out before the iPhone I doubt Apple's simplicity would've had been effective counter-marketing.
- kscaldef 16y agoThere is a still popular perception that Macs are for frivolous hippies and PCs is what real people use to do real work. I'd tend to disagree. That might have been the attitude a decade ago, but today I think it goes more like "Sure, Macs are nice, but I can't afford one". At least that's what I hear most frequently from people I know.
- nostromo 16y agoThe question though is if the PC won out because of its complexity and feature set, or for other reasons (openness, business practices, etc.)