The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.
- Walt Whitman
Somewhere in the back of our brains is this idea that simplicity is something good; something worth striving for. But have you ever asked yourself why? Simplicity literally means freedom from complexity or intricacy. But then why is that good? Donald Norman asserts that simplicity is indeed overrated, however I do not buy that. I support, what I like to call, the “Simplicity” school of thought for design.
Functional Benefits
Let’s start with the functional benefits of design simplicity. A simple design lends itself naturally to usability. With a lack of clutter, the user can easily understand the web site’s navigational structure. Furthermore, a simple design does not feature an overwhelming number of distractions (in the form of too much advertisement, or too many graphics, etc.), so the user can absorb content purely and fully.
This, in turn, leads to a user spending his or her time more optimally. We are all familiar with the adage, time is money. Well, this can be true to a certain degree and if that is the case, a user spending less time getting lost in a design is “spending less” on your content (this idea was articulated by Gerry McGovern). This is actually appealing and will most likely cause that user to spend more of their time on various content offerings within your website.
Design Benefits
The first, and most obvious benefit to simple design is that it is aesthetically pleasing. Some of the most appealing web designs are extremely simple. Granted, there may be a few blogs that feature heavy graphical interfaces, but you should take note of one thing. Namely, the best online companies feature simple designs (because they are functional and beautiful, but we will get back to that in a second). Either way, a simple design is elegant and smooth. They tend to be symmetrical and allow the user’s eye to move easily from one element to the next. Here are a few of my favorite examples of simple design:
As you can see, simplicity is accessible and appealing to everyone. And a further benefit is that simple design lends itself to good typography. I consider this a design benefit, because typography can really make or break a web page’s design feel. Of course, there is a functional aspect as well, but I favor it’s designing characteristics.
The Essence of Great Design: Balance And Simplicity
This brings me to my conclusion. Simplicity strikes a perfect balance of design and functionality. It is practical and beautiful. But to be honest, while I am a great proponent of simplicity, I do not always consider the simplicity aspect enough in some of my own designs; and sometimes I just fail to strike a good balance. However, more experience seems to be resolving this issue. I would love to hear your thoughts on simplicity, so leave them in the comments!
[...] We have had another week of some great design links. And actually, I have been starting to find more and more people actually discussing the reason and philosophy behind some of todays current design trends. This is a very exciting topic to me and one which I myself have started to dive into. At any rate, there are also several links here that feature some free photoshop download materials as well as the only wordpress theme generator out there: [...]
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Thanks for the article David.
We’re always looking for simplicity in design – but yes, the question is why is it good? Usually I think the best solutions are the simplest. I think in general people don’t realize how long it usually takes to get to that point. Editing to get to this point is usually a long process and takes a sharp mind to be able to see how to do it in a simpler way. And it requires questioning things you originally felt were ‘how it must be’. When done right, a simple solution looks effortless, like the best figure skaters make it look so easy. But we all know it’s not.
its very nice projected. nd it requires questioning things you originally felt were ‘how it must be’.
I found this article looking for an answer to the question and I can’t say I’ve found it. Although, I do express similar view on the design, I find it hard to explain the reasons behind this approach, to the outsiders. I came across a marketing person recently and I cannot convince him about the benefits.
very nice share thanks
The truth behind most “simple” designs is that there usually is actually much more design work going on than with complex ones.
The simpler a design, the more likely you are to notice a mistake, and so everything has to be pixel perfect.
You are absolutely right, though, simplicity and usability do go hand in hand.
@licasswistun – I’d read “Don’t Make Me Think”. It explains why usability and simplicity go hand in hand.
Sounds good, I also love minimalistic interfaces.
It is practical and beautiful.çiçekçi.
its very nice projected. nd it requires questioning things you originally felt were ‘how it must be’.
I found this article looking for an answer to the question and I can’t say I’ve found it. Although, I do express similar view on the design, I find it hard to explain the reasons behind this approach, to the outsiders. I came across a marketing person recently and I cannot convince him about the benefits.
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Great list, I can certainly say that I have personally used a few of these technique with great success!
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