A small story about the complications behind simple things
Intro
This is one of the things or questions that bother me. “Why more effort is needed when building something simple(easy to use and understand) versus something complicated.
Each time when I start building or thinking about something, after drafting the initial idea, which can take multiple pages, I start looking at simplifying it. I couldn’t find a definitive explanation yet, as to why simplicity is harder to achieve, but here I will leave some thoughts about this idea, with my conclusion about it. Next, after some first-hand experiences to make the point more “obvious” than it already is (trying to be funny), I will try to argue why I think this happens. So… stay till the end 🙂
My experiences so far
For example, I used to be a copywriter, and headlines, taglines, oneliners, and slogans were the hardest to come up with. Why? Due to the concentrated information in fewer words.
The creative process behind this was to create a small paragraph and then shorten that up until the desired concentrated form was achieved. Sometimes, the work was smooth, and sometimes when things were not good in terms of message, content, or tone, I had to draft multiple versions to get that unique, perfect one. (One time, I remember going over 100 rewrites just for a headline 🙂
Nowadays, when I’m distanced from that time in my life when creativity was a must, and I work as a DevOps engineer and a DadOps, the same question is here. (You can read more about that, in the DadOps stories)
https://blog.plesca.eu/category/dadops-stories/
I think that simplicity is the hardest thing to accomplish. The fact that I moved from one very creative industry to a more precise and organized one, and the question remains, is quite intriguing.
Let me jump in a short example from this side also. The advancement of technology permits now the creation of complicated structures and systems, that can do a specific job very well. But behind the scenes, all our effort is focused on delivering simplicity.
A “user experience” simple and extreme usability for the end users in any digital product (app, website, API, etc.) and in the background, clean, clear, with simple flows architectures or infrastructures, to support the simple frontend delivered.
Going back to the example from my copywriting life, my developer colleagues and friends have the same struggles as I had as a creative back then.
How to write this code in fewer lines, making it smaller in size and thus faster to run?
Or on the frontend part, the same question “how to make it simpler?” rises in a more subtle form:
Is it ok to have one button or two buttons? Does the color reflect the user’s behavior? Is the font sharp enough for the desired effect?
All and all, at least from my perspective as a former communicator/creative and now DevOps engineer, it seems that the “issue” remains in both industries. But to be honest, I can distance myself from those, and digging deeper, I feel that simplicity is a general goal (and problem at the same time) in all industries, no matter if they are structured, nonstructured, creative, or redundant.
My two cents
I think that nature in itself is simple and complicated at the same time, depending on the perspective you have on it. Consequently, humans inherit this behavior and way of being, as well. I believe that the “simple/complicated” dichotomy is intimately embedded in our inner self in such a way, that we seek simplicity but are drawn towards complication.
In life, we start by appreciating the simple things like the joy of being hugged by our mother, the first steps, etc., and while we grow, we detach from the simplicity per se and embrace complication to seek simplicity(the one lost while growing), and while reaching the end of life, like closing a circle, we return to the simple things again.
So here, I might be unclear and a bit fuzzy in my thoughts, so please forgive me for it, but it seems that our actions and behavior mimic the way we think about the two concepts.
“Complicated” is socially labeled as a positive attribute, and “simplicity” is a negative one. This mindset setup (originated from society and social interactions) is in big contradiction with our inner biological flows, of seeking simplicity. (well, if we accept that this is what we are seeking)
In conclusion, the question of why it is harder to achieve simplicity versus complication can be treated as yet another “daily cold war” that we are fighting with ourselves, to align the inner urge towards simplicity and the social “push” in favor of complication.
Before you go…
Leave your ideas, thoughts, and feedback behind. I would like to know if you thought about this, and how you are making peace with yourself in terms of simple and complex urges. Is it harder for you to achieve simplicity or am I an exception?