Simplification: What Does It Mean? What Are Its Benefits?

What Does Simplification Mean? What Are its Benefits? | When Does Simplification not Suffice? | How Does Simplification Work? | How Can You Achieve Simplicity?

What Does Simplification Mean? What Are Its Benefits?

Today's software usually boasts functionality. This functionality is, however, often inaccessible to users because the software is:

  • Not transparent: Users do not find the many "hidden features" of an application
  • Complex: Users are disoriented and do not know how to proceed and how to achieve their goals
  • Cumbersome to use: Users are hindered and frustrated by inefficient procedures

Such software not only frustrates users, but also costs money because it is inefficient. Users must put a lot of effort into mastering their software instead of performing their tasks.

Simplification is one possible solution to this problem. Put simply, "simplifying for usability" means developing simple applications that are easy to understand, use, and learn. This can be done from scratch, as is preferred, or by transforming an existing complex application, or set of applications, into one or more simple applications. The latter is much harder and often leads developers into the trap of trying to squeeze all the existing functionality into the "easy" applications, which usually turn out to be as complex as their predecessors.

Simplification is not a goal in itself. By making applications simpler, you make them more effective, efficient, and, hopefully, more fun to use. Simplification reduces the barrier that computer software creates between users and their tasks. It increases productivity and user satisfaction and thus reduces costs.

So, possible results of successfully simplifying an application are:

  • The software is accessible to a wider range of users (e.g. untrained users); tasks, which were formerly performed by specialists, can be delegated to employees or customers (e.g. self-service applications).
  • Users are more efficient and satisfied.
  • Increased efficiency in the use of software results in higher productivity and thus reduces costs. Furthermore, training costs can also be reduced.

 

When Does Simplification Not Suffice?

Simplification is not the only possible answer to the above-mentioned dilemma of "feature growth" and software complexity. There are cases where the best solution is to provide different types of users with different versions of an application. There may be a place for an "easy application," but professional users may still need a powerful and flexible application that is hard to use for untrained or casual users.

In other cases, the procedures are inherently complicated and complex. Really complex things cannot be made simple enough that everybody can do them without prior training. There are limits for simplification, if one does not want to sacrifice power or oversimplify certain processes. Thus, often a careful analysis is needed to find out, which elements of a process can be simplified and performed by untrained users and which must still be reserved for experts. Such an analysis can lead to a totally new application design and restructuring of the business processes. So, the answer may be "simplification – yes" but only for certain parts of a process.

 

How Does Simplification Work?

Simplification may work in several ways. Here are some examples:

  • Reducing functionality to the essential functions makes it easier for users to find the required functions
  • Reducing the number of steps in a procedure lets users complete their tasks faster
  • Making software transparent to users makes it easier to learn for beginners and easier to use for casual users
  • Transferring parts of a task to the system reduces the users' work load and lets them do their tasks faster and with less errors
  • Guiding users through procedures leads to less failures and frustration

 

How Can You Achieve Simplicity?

Do you know how to achieve simplicity? And do you know how to achieve it without sacrificing other goals? You will find the answers to these questions in this guide! Here, we propose and illustrate general design principles that set the focus on developing simple and efficient applications. We also cover some of the problems that may arise when their requirements conflict with each other.

Please note that many of the principles in this guide are also applicable for professional users. These users can, however, be confronted with greater complexity, more functionality, and less user guidance: They know the procedures, how software works in general, and how to get out of deadlocks and errors.

 

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Source:  Simplifying for Usability