I recently blogged over at North Point Online’s Blog about Gall’s Law, which states:
A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.
I wanted to add to that by mentioned an additional principle which I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: The “Worse is Better” Principle, which describes:
[…] how a seemingly “inferior” product can be better from a user perspective. A limited but easy-to-use software may be more popular among users than a “better”, more comprehensive one.
I think this goes hand-in-hand with Gall’s Law. There’s just something about simplicity which works; the added bells and whistles may make it cool, but ultimately they bring little additional value, and may in fact make the software and/or design more bloated and less attractive.
We’re applying both in our Online Experience development over at North Point Online.
How can you use these principles? Do you think about this type of stuff or is it just me?
[Image from B-Tal]
@mikeymo1741 says
You're talking about Visat, aren't you? 🙂
@mikeymo1741 says
I meant "Vista" Stupid letters.
stephenbateman says
The parallels are obvious in Operating Systems, but let's go fast food.
I hate KFC (partially because I've spent 3 yrs @ CFA) because they have 15 combos! Taco Bell has like 12. WHY
yahoo.com anyone? the land of 1000 links.
John Dyer says
I love adding features, options, and customization to an app, but then I usually end up needing to tear it back out or hide it since they tend to distract and confuse. I hate to beat the MS/Apple thing to death, but I think it is a great example. MS tends to add tons of features and options until it becomes a bloated mess, while Apple tends to put out things with fewer features (iPhone 1.0) but do them just right.
I have a feeling there is some parallels to ministry trying to do it all vs. keeping it simple.
Jesse Phillips says
YESSS! YES! YES! YES! YES!
This is like my life verse!!!!!! Have a computer science background, I'm EXTREMELY sensitive to this issue.
I think this is key in creating great products and viral ideas.
Do you think this applies to churches as well?
human3rror says
DEFINITELY!
@bayshorts says
Yeah, I think about this a ton too, John.
Keep going over of the "Less is More" principle in A. Stanley's "7 Habits" book. Systems invariably drift towards complexity. He mentioned in a recent talk (drive '09) that if a system is more complex than when it began, it's beneficial to ask, "What's the one reason we got in this industry to begin with?" Strip away everything else, and you may lose features (ie, minsitries, bells & whistles), but ultimately have a product, service or ministry that can go further because it's more focused.
human3rror says
word up!
Josh Wagner says
Dude, I think about this all the time. It's the reason Twitter is so powerful. It's so simple it's almost stupid, but yet a whole ecosystem – including apps, websites, and even marketing principles – have grown around it. It's really interesting to me, because Twitter.com doesn't have many features (probably 5 or less). But, you can download more than 2 dozen apps that each add a specific set of features (groups, multi accounts, searches, cross posting, etc) that certain people like. You can essentially pick a set of features you like, and someone will have them. All of that couldn't happen if Twitter had all of these features built in.
Ok, rambling now, but simplicity is better.