Reconciling the Powers of Less and More in Product Design

Bob Moll, Wednesday, September 13, 2006 @ 12:24 pm

In his book The Art of Innovation (a highly recommended read), Tom Kelley (of IDEO) speaks of “Feature Creep” as the enemy of innovation. We have all used products that try to be so much they become a burden instead of a helpful tool. But how as practitioners do we fight the feature creep tendency and keep products and business processes customer-focused?

Kelley advocates two approaches. First, in a version 2.0 of a product, streamline. Resist the temptation to overcrowd the product and emphasize “integration and simplicity.” Second, you should “spend the most design attention at the place where you touch the product the most.” I would hold this especially true in physical and mobile devices, but would also emphasize this principle in process design. If everyone encounters the front door of a process, make sure that part or the process is very well thought out and efficient for the users.

user experience design

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