Simple is Efficient
By virtue of having software made simple, you gain a few efficiencies. Perhaps most importantly is the ability to release your software quickly. Frequent updates to software, particular when it is in the early stages are a great way to get user feedback, show your commitment and get people excited. A common way to keep working efficiently on core features (and not bloated features that not...
Read MoreSimple is More
Things that are simple are: Used more More useful More fun Bring you more customers Get you more sales So you can go on more vacations!
Read MoreSimple Is Less
Less what? Less stress for you Less stress for your users Less code to write, which means less bugs Less features, but the right ones Less complexity Less buttons But, believe it or not, it’s a lot more work to do less. As the famous quote from Blaise Pascal says: “This letter is very long because I had no time to make it...
Read MoreSimple is Hard
Following up on my last post, Simple is Easy, my next topic is “Simple is Hard”. As in “hard for you, the developer”. To be blunt: it’s going to take a lot of work for you to create something that’s simple. You’ll spend significant time thinking and not actually writing any code. This can be difficult for a lot of developers. After all, they equate...
Read MoreSimple Is Easy
For your users, simple means one thing: make it easy to use. This can mean a lot of things to different people but the key thing to keep in mind is that your software should be approachable. Your users don’t want to read manuals or go to training in order to effectively use your software. They want to just figure it out as they use it. This means your software needs to respect them. It...
Read MoreSoftware Made Simple
My presentation on Software Made Simple during the REAL World 2008 keynote was apparently quite popular with conference-goers. I had countless people come up to me in the days after commenting on how much they enjoyed it and how it made them rethink how they were doing some things. So I thought it might be a good idea to capture this presentation as a series of blog posts. The presentation...
Read More