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10 Tips for Making Complicated Things
SimpleCrispin Reedy
Big Design Conference 2016 #BigD2016
#makeItSimple @crispinTX
Crispin Reedy!crispinreedy.com!
@crispinTX!!
Voice Interaction Designer President of @avixd
“Simple” vs “Easy”
hammockyucatan.com
“Easy” implies “Low Effort”
hammockyucatan.com
“Simple” is not “Low Effort”
robrusher
wisdomtimes.com
Tip 1: Recognize that the problem exists
• Writing really long detailed emails
• Blaming users / coworkers / clients
• Monologues in meetings received with silence
• Predominant feeling that “more complicated is good”
• “We need all this stuff!”
• Feeling lost in a wilderness of choices
Symptoms
What’s the source?
wisdomtimes.com
Tip 1: Recognize that the problem exists and you may be causing it
I’ve Got The Power! Or Do I?
• Changing a Complicated Thing
• Add, change, remove functionality
• Control over the way the thing is developed / built
• Explaining a Complicated Thing
• Talking about a complex technical topic to non-technical users
• May not be able to add, change, remove functionality
wisdomtimes.com
Tip 1: Recognize that the problem exists and you may NOT be causing it
cathub.tv
Recognizing the problem is the start of solving the problem
DigressionSo why make things simple? And why is it so hard to do?
Simplicity enables understanding
chiasmuscommunications.com
Simplicity enables understanding
understandinggroup.com
“There is no stronger persuasion than causing people to understand.” - Ioan Tenner
Goal: “Just Right”
So Why Is This Difficult?• Lots of reasons! Some may be:
• Life tends towards complexity (Entropy?)
• Familiarity with complexity / Cognitive load
• Personal ego
• Unclear goals
Get the Starting Point Correct
Figure It Out For Yourself
Teach Others
Change What You Can
The Folding Chair Classical Theater Company
Tip 2: Have a goal
Marcus Geldud, The Folding Chair Theater Company:
“Most people don't pair down to a single goal. !
They have multiple goals all alive at once, some of which are in conflict with each other: !
“I want to direct a really simple production of 'Romeo and Juliet,'
but I also don't want to bore people,
and I want the show to make money,
and I want it to get good reviews,
and I want people to think I did a really good job…””
The Folding Chair Classical Theater Company
Tip 2: Have a simple, single goal
It’s not just about having the goal… !it’s about communicating the goal
understandinggroup.com
Tip 2: Have a simple, single goal that can be readily shared and articulated
berkley.edu
Shared, Articulated Goal
• State the goal at the beginning of the meeting
• State the goal at the beginning of the document
• Include the goal in working notes
• Or in emails
Jared Spool: Short Form Creative Brief
• What are we working on today?
• Project Objectives
• Key Personas
• Key Scenarios
• Key Principles
https://articles.uie.com/short_form_creative_brief/
Jared Spool: Short Form Creative Brief
Read aloud at the beginning of every meeting!!
• Make sure everyone is working on the same project
• Goals are still relevant
• Establish shared understanding as team members roll on / off the project
• Allows team to focus on the important stuff
• Reinforces the function of goals - as a tool for decision- making
https://articles.uie.com/short_form_creative_brief/
Marcus Geldud, The Folding Chair Theater Company:
“Most people don't pair down to a single goal. !
They have multiple goals all alive at once, some of which are in conflict with each other: !
“I want to direct a really simple production of 'Romeo and Juliet,'
but I also don't want to bore people,
and I want the show to make money,
and I want it to get good reviews,
and I want people to think I did a really good job…””
Task goals vs. ego goals in athletics
womenssportsmedicine.com
Ego Goals
• I want to win
• Beat the other guy
• Be the best
• Show I am great
Sport Information Resource Center
Task Goals• Improve my skills
• Get better from day to day
• Learn
• Accomplish a goal
• Work hard
High Ego Orientation
Athletes• Are overly focused on
end results
• Fragility
• Burnout risk
• Report higher levels of anxiety and negative coping behaviors
Schoolsites: Chris Harwood
High Task Orientation
Athletes• Show consistency
• Greater long term participation
• Perception of ability tied to improvement
• Report enjoyment, satisfaction, intrinsic interest, and flow at higher rates than EO athletes
So How Does This Help?
• Are your ego-oriented goals making things complicated?
• Getting in the way of your task-oriented goals?
• Getting in the way of your flow?
• fully immersed • energized focus • full involvement • enjoyment in the
process
Theory: Simplicity arises
from flow
Get the Starting Point Correct
Figure It Out For Yourself
Teach Others
Change What You Can
Tip 4: Give yourself time to think about the topic
pcwallart.com
Super Busy!
ClaytonBrothers
Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind
“People seem to find any excuse they can to keep busy,” Professor Timothy Wilson, University of
Virginia
• Majority of participants “found it unpleasant to be alone in a room with their thoughts”
• For just 6 to 15 minutes!
• When left alone to think 64% of men and 15% of women began self-administering electric shocks
Time To Think• Don’t be afraid to think!
• Faster doesn’t always equal better!
• Block out a window in your calendar for “Work”
• Recognize if you’re trapped in the Speed Trap
• Do you need to do less?
Time To Think“When I am slow and
reflective, thinking about myself, who I am and
where I am, I see that I need more than one speed. It’s a whole different way of thinking about success. I
need slow in order to think, in order to protect my
judgement.” - ‘Michael’
Tip 5: Think about the material on more than one level
blog.daycos.com
Levels• 10,000 foot view
• High level overview, “Big Picture”
• Strategy, high-concepts
• “Stuff in the middle”
• Detailed view
• Absolutely everything you need to know
• Possibly so much detail it becomes difficult to find your way around
Levels• Micro
• Person, Citizen, Couple, Family, Household
• Meso
• Clan, Tribe, Community, City, Organization, State
• Macro
• Nation, Society, Civilization, International
The Maligned Middle
Stuck in the Meso with You!
• Sits between the high level view and the detailed view
• Connects them
• Possibly explains them both in a meaningful way
• Or shows the relationship between them
• Producing this level of artifact forces you to look at the material differently
• Patterns will emerge
Stuck in the Meso with You• Medium-Level Flow charts
• Table of Contents
• Or any kinds of tables, really
• Summaries
• Outlines
• Visualizations
• Architecture Diagrams?
• Annotated Pictures
cea-ace.ca
Tip 5: Think about the material on more than one level and the “meso” stuff might be the most important
theunboundedspirit.com
The Middle Path
Tip 6: Get it out of your mind
You have to SEE it• Write it
• Draw it
• Diagram it
• Use colors
• Make it
• Map it
Tip 6: Get it out of your mind in a different way
I usually…!
• Write it
• Draw it
• Diagram it
• Use colors
• Make it
• Map it
So switch to…!
• Draw it
• Write it
• Make it
• Use black and white
• Diagram it
• Talk about it
• Change the part of the brain you’re using
• Get yourself out of old habits
• See the problem more clearly • Different relationships
may become apparent • Shake it up: Change the
focus to different aspects of the problem
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Tip 7: Avoid jargon / Be precise
Obfuscates Reveals
Reveals:!Acronyms!
Technical Terms!Specialized Words!Industry-Specific!
!SCSI!
Webservice!Interface!
!The word has a precise
meaning that is useful in certain contexts
Obfuscates:!Weasel Words!
Trendy!Imprecise!Abstract!
!Optimization!
Paradigm!Onboarding!
Recontexualize!!
The word has different meanings to different
people
Define and TeachStop Using
Get the Starting Point Correct
Figure It Out For Yourself
Teach Others
Change What You Can
Tip 8: Take things out!
The Power of Delete
Complex vs. Complicated
Feature Creep
Feature Creep• User research!
• Is the feature used? If not, why?
• Consider the cost to maintain it
• Does the feature hurt the UX?
• Does the feature fit with the product strategy?
Feature Creep
• How to remove?
• Inform your users
• Provide alternate methods
• Avoid adding it in the first place
Courage?
bgr.com
Tip 8: Take things out and reorganize
Take Things Out And Reorganize
• Focus on your goals
• User research!
• A/B testing
• IAs or Card Sorts
• Create a new model for a subset of users
• Migrate your user base gradually
“You can’t have everything… Where would you put it?”
- Steven Wright
Get the Starting Point Correct
Figure It Out For Yourself
Teach Others
Change What You Can
The Role of Explanation in Discovery and Generalization: Evidence From Category Learning
Joseph J. Williams, Tania Lombrozo Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley
The Role of Explanation in Discovery and Generalization: Evidence From Category Learning
Joseph J. Williams, Tania Lombrozo Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley
• Satisfactory explanations involve generalizations and/or underlying principles
• Explaining something to someone causes us to find those “satisfying patterns.”
• Describing something is more beneficial for learning item details
• Explaining anomalous observations helps us revise our beliefs
Tip 10: She Who Plans The Meeting Wins The Meeting
“Winging It” Is For The Birds• Things distributed ahead of time!
• Agenda
• Materials
• Think about what you will say
• Establish a basic meeting etiquette
• Minimize interruptions and “talk-over”
• Take notes: distribute them afterwards
But It’s Not My Meeting!
So?
Rick and Morty
Get the Starting Point Correct
Figure It Out For Yourself
Teach Others
Change What You Can
Get the Starting Point Correct Have clear goals
Avoid ego orientation
Figure It Out For Yourself Give yourself time
Work at different levels Don’t forget the middle Get it out of your head
Change modalities Watch your words
Teach Others Teach someone else first
Plan your meeting Execute!
Change What You Can Delete
Modularize Organize
“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” -Thoreau
“The devil’s in the details.”
Bonus Tip
cathub.tv
Be Kind
!
Thanks!!!
!
!crispinreedy.com!
@crispinTX
