Interfaces and devices are providing more and more power and functionality to people, and in many cases this additional power is accompanied by increasing complexity. Although people have more experience and are more sophisticated, it still takes time to learn new interfaces, information, and interactions. Although we are able to learn and use these often difficult interfaces, we increasingly seek and appreciate simplicity. The Complexity Curve describes how a project moves from boundless opportunity and wonderful ideas to requirements checklists and constraints then finally (but only rarely) to simplicity and elegance. Where many projects call themselves complete when the necessary features have been included, few push forward and strive to deliver the pleasing and delightful experiences that arise from simplicity, focus, and purpose. David M. Hogue, Ph.D. - VP of Experience Design, applied psychologist, and adjunct faculty member at San Francisco State University - introduces the Complexity Curve, discuss why our innovative ideas seem to fade over the course of a project, explain why "feature complete" is not the same as "optimal experience", and offer some methods for driving projects toward simplicity and elegance. Comments on twitter at #SXsimplerUX Audio available at: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP13657

1. COMPLEXITY
simplicity

2. The Complexity Curve
Designing for Simplicity
@DaveHogue
#SXsimplerUX

3. Welcome
David M. Hogue, Ph.D.
VP XD at Fluid
San Francisco

4. Complexity is easy.
We can make anything complex.

5. Even our wristwatches.

6. Simple to read, difficult to set.

7. Not much has changed…

8. Daylight Saving Time
Starts tonight at 2:00 am.
Do you know how to set your watch?

9. To make something simpler,
we first need to define complexity,
which is, ironically, not simple.

10. What is complexity?

11. complexus
entwined; twisted together
(Latin)

12. “… I know it when I see it …”
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart
(Jacobellis v. Ohio, 1964)

13. Three perspectives:
Designers
People (Users)
Scientists

14. Designers
Appearance
Aesthetics
Style

15. Space

16. Noise

17. Hierarchy
http://blog.typekit.com/2011/03/17/type-study-typographic-hierarchy/

18. Designers
Functionality
Context
Flow

19. Interactivity

20. Dark Pattern?

21. What is the goal?

22. Structure

23. Flow

24. People
Relevance
Difficulty
Clarity

25. Clutter
http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2011/11/04/clutter/

26. Difficulty

27. Confusion

28. Scientists
Chaos

29. Weather

30. Edward Lorenz, Sc.D.
dt/dx = σ(y−x)
dt/dy = x(τ−z)−y
dt/dz = xy− βz

31. Lorenz Attractor

32. Chaos
Dynamical systems
Deterministic
Not predictable

33. Chaos
Self-organizing
Emergent structure
Sensitivity to perturbation

34. Butterfly Effect

35. Some things are
naturally complex.
So why discuss chaos?

36. Complex systems that appear
to have an impossibly large
number of variables can actually
be described and understood
with remarkably few.

37. The Complexity Curve
In which the level of complexity
increases the further we get
into a design project.

38. Complexity Curve

39. Complexity Curve

40. Where does complexity
come from?

41. Let’s skip the obvious:
Disregard for design
www.webpagesthatsuck.com
790 Flickr groups with
“bad design” in the name

42. Designers
Models
Patterns
Scope Creep
Constraints & Requirements

43. Expectations v. Reality
Mental Conceptual System
Model Model Model
(user) (interface) (device)

44. Mental Model Mismatch
Impedes progress
Interrupts focus
Incorrect direction

45. Designers
Models
Patterns
Scope Creep
Constraints & Requirements

46. Copying Patterns

47. Anti-Patterns

48. Dark Patterns

49. New and different

50. Designers
Models
Patterns
Scope Creep
Constraints & Requirements

51. Scope Creep (Jog or Run)
Forgotten features
Absent stakeholders
Vendor systems

52. Executive Bungee-Jumping

53. Designers
Models
Patterns
Scope Creep
Constraints & Requirements

54. Constraints & Requirements
Technical constraints
Legal requirements
Business unit requirements

55. System Model Exposure
Where is the current price per share?
Why can't I buy a certain total value?

56. People
Difficulty
Expertise

57. Do not conflate
complexity with difficulty.
Difficult tasks often appear complex
only until we have learned
the necessary knowledge and skills.

58. High cognitive loads
feel difficult.
Understanding and memory
Problem-solving and decision-making
Associations and connections

59. People
Difficulty
Expertise

60. Developing Expertise
Declarative Procedural Automaticity
Knowledge Knowledge (Habits)

61. Novices & Experts

62. Technology
Limitations

63. Limitations
Materials
Manufacturing
Technological capability

64. Inexorably Forward

65. What can be done about
complexity?

66. Not everything should be simple.

67. Law of Parsimony
All things being equal, simpler solutions
are generally better than complex ones.

68. The Complexity Curve
In which the level of complexity
may be decreased if we continue
to iterate and refine the design.

69. Complexity Curve

70. Complexity Curve

71. Technology
Advances

72. Materials and Manufacturing

73. Patience

74. Forward Forces

75. People
Motivation
Transfer
Support

76. A sufficiently motivated
person will tolerate:
Complexity
Difficulty
Confusion

77. Sometimes we need to
teach people,
because we cannot
make it any simpler.

78. Transfer of
knowledge and skills
Instruction
Demonstration
Analogy

79. Design
Leverage our ignorance
Place people first
Use mental models
Focus & Reduce
Iterate

80. Leverage our ignorance.
Often our best ideas arise before we
have become shackled by constraints.
Write them down before we know
why we can’t do them.
Then return to them.

81. Put people first.
Motivation
Behavior
Emotion
Creativity

82. Use mental models.
Match conceptual and
mental models
Hide system models

83. Mental models evolve

84. Conceptual models evolve

85. Focus Reduce
Attention Effort
Flow Time
Errors

86. However,
Simplicity is not
just about reduction.
Do not confuse subtraction
with simplification.

87. “Make everything as simple as
possible, but not simpler.”

88. Complexity moves.

89. Shift the complexity…

90. …away from the person.

91. Law of Conservation of Complexity

92. Feature complete
is not experience optimized.

93. Iteration
Incubation
Cross-pollination
Observation

94. New solutions…

95. …emerge.

96. None of these solutions,
advances, and innovations
could have been possible
without...

97. Critical Thinking
A persistent effort to examine any
belief, idea, or fact in terms
of the available evidence.

98. We know that designers:
Ask questions
Gather information
Identify problems
Generate ideas
Evaluate options
Communicate solutions

99. Critical thinkers go further:
Ask questions
Gather information
Identify problems
Recognize assumptions
Assess relationships
Generate ideas
Evaluate options
Consider consequences
Communicate solutions

100. Designing for simplicity
is not about
Checklists
Formulas
Patterns
Rules

101. It is about
Thinking and reasoning
Understanding the problem
Analyzing and optimizing

102. So, how do we make
stuff simpler?

103. Ten Opportunities
to Simplify

104. “Messy & Confusing”
Irrelevance
Disorganization
Ambiguity

105. Indirect Action
Abstracted
Disconnected
Increased cognitive load

106. Everything to Everyone
Too many variables
Too little focus

107. Design by Consensus
Scope creep
(or worse…)

108. “Nice to have…”
Noise
Clutter
Excess

109. Copying Solutions
Misapplied patterns

110. Map Structure to
Organization or Technology
Exposes the system model

111. Leading with Technology
Solving the wrong
(or non-existent) problems

112. A solution looking for a problem?

113. Or a tremendous opportunity?

114. Designing for Yourself
Ignoring the person’s
mental models

115. Accepting Assumptions
Not collecting data
Absence of critical thinking

116. It may be complex if…
“Messy & Confusing” Copying Solutions
Indirect Action Map to Organization
Everything to Everyone Lead with Technology
Design by Consensus Design for Yourself
“Nice to Have…” Accept Assumptions

117. Thanks!
David M. Hogue, Ph.D.
VP XD at Fluid
San Francisco

118. The Complexity Curve
Designing for Simplicity

119. Credits