Good information architecture makes users less alienated and suppressed by technology. It simultaneously increases human satisfaction and your company's profits. Very few jobs allow you to do both at the same time, so enjoy.
Jakob NielsenRead
Throughout this book, we've been evangelizing simplicity, but ironically, the practice of simplicity is not simple. It is easy to build a bulky design by adding layer upon layer of navigation and features; it's much more difficult to create simple, graceful designs. Paring designs to essential elements while maintaining elegance and functionality requires courage and discipline.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Simplicity in design is challenging and requires careful consideration and discipline.
This quote by Jakob Nielsen highlights the paradox of simplicity in design: while it may sound straightforward to achieve, in practice, it demands a disciplined approach to strip away unnecessary complexity. Creating designs that are elegant and functional involves a thoughtful process of identifying and retaining only the essential elements, which is often more difficult than filling a design with excessive features.
Themes
SimplicityDesignFunctionalityEleganceDiscipline
In practice
Example use cases
In a design workshop, to emphasize the importance of simplicity in design thinking.
More from Jakob Nielsen
All quotes →Developing fewer features allows you to conserve development resources and spend more time refining those features that users really need. Fewer features mean fewer things to confuse users, less risk of user errors, less description and documentation, and therefore simpler Help content. Removing any one feature automatically increases the usability of the remaining ones.
Jakob NielsenRead
Usability rules the web. Simply stated, if the customer can't find a product, then he or she will not buy it.
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Ultimately, users visit your website for its content. Everything else is just the backdrop.
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On the Internet, it's survival of the easiest.... Give users a good experience and they're apt to turn into frequent and loyal customers. But ... it's easy to turn to another supplier in the face of even a minor hiccup. Only if a site is extremely easy to use will anybody bother staying around.
Jakob NielsenRead
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