Complexity is a trap. Most people think that adding more features, more buttons, or more steps makes a product "better." They're wrong. In fact, they're usually making things worse for the end user. When you look at the most successful platforms on the planet—think of the early Google search bar or the original iPhone—the magic wasn't in what they added. It was in how they stripped everything away until it felt like you make it easy for the person on the other side of the screen.
Simplicity is expensive. It’s a luxury.
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Designing something that feels intuitive takes ten times more effort than throwing together a cluttered interface. I’ve seen this play out in software development for years. A team spends six months building a "simple" dashboard, only to realize they’ve built a cockpit for a Boeing 747. Nobody knows which lever to pull. The goal of any good creator should be to disappear. If the user has to think about the tool, the tool has failed.
The psychology behind why we overcomplicate everything
We have a natural bias toward addition. It’s called "additive bias." Researchers at the University of Virginia, including Gabrielle Adams and Benjamin Converse, published a study in Nature showing that when humans are asked to improve a design or solve a problem, we instinctively add elements rather than subtract them. Even when subtracting is the more efficient path, we just don't think of it.
This is why your favorite app eventually gets "bloated."
Product managers feel like they aren’t doing their jobs unless they’re shipping new features. But "new" isn't always "better." Honestly, it’s usually just noise. To truly say you make it easy, you have to fight that primal urge to add more stuff. You have to be okay with a blank screen. That's terrifying for most businesses because a blank screen looks like "less value" to a stakeholder, even if it’s more value to a customer.
Cognitive load and the five-second rule
Ever landed on a website and felt your brain physically itch? That’s cognitive load. It’s the amount of mental effort being used in the working memory. If you present a user with fifteen choices, they’ll likely choose none of them. This is Hick’s Law: the time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices.
If you want to reach a point where you make it easy, you have to limit those choices. Give them one big button. One clear path. Use "progressive disclosure," which is just a fancy way of saying "don't show them the complicated stuff until they actually need it."
Real world examples of simplicity winning the war
Look at Stripe. Before Stripe came along, accepting credit cards on a website was a nightmare involving merchant accounts, gateways, and weeks of paperwork. Stripe’s entire value proposition was basically seven lines of code. They didn't invent online payments; they just removed the friction. They made it so that you make it easy to get paid. That's worth billions.
Compare that to the legacy banking systems of the early 2000s. You had to navigate through nested menus and security questions that felt like an interrogation. Stripe won because they respected the developer’s time.
Then there’s Canva. Professional designers hated it at first. "It’s too basic," they said. But that was the point. For a small business owner who just needs a Facebook post, Photoshop is a wall. Canva is a door. By lowering the floor, they allowed millions of people to create decent designs without needing a four-year degree. They focused on the outcome, not the process.
Why "frictionless" is a dangerous buzzword
People throw around the word "frictionless" like it’s a magic spell. But sometimes, you want friction. You want friction when someone is about to delete their entire database. You want friction when someone is sending a large wire transfer.
The trick is knowing where to put the speed bumps.
When we talk about the phrase you make it easy, we aren't talking about making things mindless. We’re talking about making them seamless. A seamless experience allows the user to stay in a "flow state." If they have to stop and wonder "Where is the save button?" or "Did that actually work?", the flow is broken.
The technical debt of complex UI
Every button you add is a liability. It’s something that can break. It’s something that needs to be translated into twelve languages. It’s something that needs to be tested on an iPhone 8 and a 4K monitor.
Most tech debt isn't actually in the code. It's in the features.
When a company says, "We need to simplify our product," what they usually mean is, "We’ve made a mess and we don’t know how to fix it without upsetting the power users." This is the Innovator's Dilemma in a nutshell. You start simple, you add features to please big clients, and suddenly you’re the bloated incumbent waiting to be disrupted by a startup that realizes you make it easy is the only competitive advantage that actually lasts.
The "Invisible" Design Movement
The best design is often the stuff you don't notice. It's the way a door handle tells you to pull it without a sign that says "PULL." It's the way a well-designed app uses haptic feedback to tell you a task is done.
- Micro-interactions: Small animations that give instant feedback.
- Default settings: 95% of users never change the defaults. Make them perfect.
- Natural Language Processing: Letting people type like humans instead of like computers.
If you’re building something, ask yourself: "If I took this feature away, would anyone actually complain?" If the answer is "maybe," delete it.
How to actually apply "You Make It Easy" to your business
It’s not just about software. This applies to everything. If you’re a consultant, don't send a 50-page PDF; send a three-sentence summary with an "approve" button. If you’re a doctor, don't use Latin; use metaphors.
Complexity is a shield people use when they don't fully understand what they're doing. It’s easy to be complicated. It’s hard to be clear. To get to the point where you make it easy, you have to be an expert. You have to know the subject so well that you can distill it down to its essence.
- Audit your touchpoints. Where is the customer getting stuck? Look at the drop-off rates in your funnels. That’s where the "hard" is.
- Kill the jargon. If a ten-year-old can’t understand your value proposition, you don't have one yet.
- Automate the boring stuff. Use AI and automation not to replace humans, but to remove the "grunt work" from the user's plate.
- Iterate based on frustration, not just feedback. Watch a user try to use your product without helping them. Their sighs and pauses are the best data you’ll ever get.
The roadmap to radical simplicity
Start by defining the "Atomic Action." What is the one thing the user came here to do? If they’re on a food delivery app, it’s to eat. If they’re on a banking app, it’s to check their balance or move money. Everything that doesn't lead directly to that Atomic Action is an obstacle.
Eliminate the "Welcome" screens.
Eliminate the "Tell us about yourself" forms.
Eliminate the "Are you sure?" prompts for minor actions.
When you strip away the ego of the creator and the noise of the marketing department, you’re left with utility. And utility is what people pay for. It’s what they stay for. It’s the ultimate way to ensure that you make it easy for them to choose you over the competition every single time.
To move forward, focus on these three pillars:
- Clarity over Cleverness: Never sacrifice understanding for a "cool" design.
- Speed over Everything: If it’s slow, it’s not easy. Lag is friction.
- Empathy for the Stressed: Design for the person who is tired, distracted, and has 2% battery left.
If it works for them, it works for everyone. Stop building features and start removing hurdles. That is the only path to a product people actually love.