SIMPLE COMPLEXITIES

Simplicity is an emperor without clothes. It brings out the ultimate beauty. Everyone wants
simplicity in their lives, be it with the smallest of machinery products, to the other technologies
and tools we use in our day to day lives, to the systems we use for communication and
transportation. People want everything to be handy and EASY to understand and use, but not
on the cost of making it dull and uninterested. The request of simplicity thus misses the point.
We do not wish to give up the power and flexibility of our technologies. If my cell phone had
only one button it certainly would be simple, but all I could do would be turn it on or off. Thus
achieving ONLY simplicity is not the goal. This is innovation's biggest paradox: We demand
more and more from the stuff in our lives--more features, more function, and more power--and
yet we also increasingly demand that it be easy to use. And thus forget the fact that the
technology that's simplest to use is also, often, the most difficult to create.
The whole idea of creating something new, with simple features and that favors the interests of
people lies in its DESIGNING. And for that one need to observe, RESEARCH, understand,
analyze, imagine, discover, prototype, test, iterate and then implement. With too many things
to handle at the same time, the process becomes complex. So behind creating something
simple, attractive, and interesting lies the complexity of these thoughts, where we need to
constantly think of making things BETTER that would bring a change.

Thus it brings out the fact that simplicity is followed by complexity and also vice-e-versa. So
both simplicity and complexity go hand in hand. Or in other words Simplicity and complexity
need each other. It is with the combination of the two that brings out a game changer. For
example, by a simple fact, the more COMPLEXITY there is in the market, the more that
something SIMPLER stands out. That is also what happens in the various products coming up in
the market.

Great design is great complexity presented via simplicity. The ability to simplify means to
eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak, Is something that can be very well
seen in the products of APPLE. The products look so honest, innovative, aesthetic and
understandable that it almost looks UNDERSIGNED. They prove that simplicity is about
subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful, thus with minimal design.

Also sometimes although a product might be complex, but with good communication a user’s
interaction with the product can feel simple and straightforward. As in many cases, life is
simpler by having a few complex, multi-purpose tools rather than a lot of elegant, special
purpose ones. As stated by many a Swiss army knife is a complex tool to handle, but people do
prefer to carry it with them while they are travelling. It makes life simpler, even if the knife is
complex, and even if each tool is deficient. People do use it a lot when traveling, but they might
never use it at home.
Sometimes we feel that they want understandable devices that are easy to comprehend, and
easy to use; as when something is too complex it is confusing, but when something is too
simple it is perceived as boring. Well something too simple might turn out to be boring but
everything complex is not confusing. Confusion is the enemy. We do not wish to be confused,
befuddled, and frustrated by our tools. The argument against complexity is due to the common
misunderstanding that complexity leads to confusion. No, it doesn't have to. This is the role of
good design: to make complex things simple to understand, easy to use, and delightful.
Real complexity does not lie in the tools, but in the task. For example skilled workers have an
array of tools, each carefully matched to a particular task requirement. It can take years to
learn which tool goes with which task, and years to master the tools. The tool set is complicated
because the task is complicated. Looking at the visual simplicity of the tool is misleading. The
mark of the great designer is the ability to provide the complexity that people need in a manner
that is understandable and elegant. Simplicity should never be the goal. Complex things will
require complexity. It is the job of the designer to manage that complexity with skill and grace.
Thus most of companies to focus on the simplification of the physical form and user interfaces
of their products providing the consumers with exactly what they want. Devices such as mobile
phones and laptops are perhaps the pinnacle of this philosophy, however this thinking has
trickled down into nearly all electronic devices including kitchen appliances, watches, cars,
televisions and connected technology.
Designing the product as simple and attractive is not the only task at hand. A major part also
lies in its marketing. The graphics used on the product or in its advertising also plays a major
role. The list does not stop just on the products but on everything that is around us. Be it
newspapers, journals, or restaurants, or our favorite places to visit in a city. The advertisement
of things is what actually attract us to these features of daily life. Thus comes the role of
graphics. It has to emote the right feel to attract a definite group of people. Apart from the
pictorial representations what most we come across is text. Our life is surrounded by it. It has
been of great concern for designers since a long time.
But the duality of this simplicity and complexity lies here as well. For example Helvetica has
been an extensively used type phase, also up till now, because of its smoothness of letters. Its
DESIGN brings out characteristics of transparency, straightforwardness and accountability. But
its overuse lead its SIMPICITY to loosing of its capacities, and forming a dull blanket of sameness
around us. Thus designers had to come up with innovative ideas of creating some complex
graphics and type fonts which trigger interest in the readers. Also they did choose Helvetica but
used it differently, making a rhythm and contrast within the text to make it emote the precise.
As the duality goes around us in every aspect so does it goes with urban planning. For example
making new routes for transportation is not that easy. When it is inevitably tied in an intricate
web of overlaps with all other urban functions and with the rich morass of human life. It thus
complicates or complexes the so to appear simple planning task. But the complex process also
makes it more likely to achieve meaningful results. The assumption that people will use local
facilities in a village like community or that they will cycle to train station, offices, schools, etc.
along dedicated landscaped routes is easy to make but difficult to achieve. For achieving this we
need to appreciate the web of COMPEX interactions for work, shopping and leisure that auto
mobility has created. Thus the simplest of thought are difficult to achieve and inculcates a lot of
complex processes. And thus say problems like the route is longer, or deserted might come up
with in its planning. Dealing with such problems, one may provide a longer route but with
splendid experiences, thus hiding the complexity of the route.
Hiding complexities is a common practice in design, as users want to get what they want out of
something with minimal fuss or inhibition. The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through
reduction; so if something is not needed, designers get rid of it.
And thus the rhythm of how simplicity and complexity occur in time and space holds the key to
a great design