Why 'simplicity' needs a user-centered design process

Designful companies know ‘simplicity’ is the value they need to seek after in this world of overload. But where should you start if you want to pursue simplicity in designing your customer experiene?

First thing is to define what simplicity is. Based on my research from simplicity literatures, the fundamental definition of simplicity is this: “Simplicity is based on human nature and common sense.”
This means people perceive something complex or simple based on their mental model.

I illustrated this thinking into the following

Pink circle signifies one’s mental model
Red circle signifies knowledge required to understand something – communication material or system
The bigger the overlap is the simpler people perceive. That’s the nature of simplicity.

This means if we design something closer to their mental model, we get to create simplicity! This is why achieving simplicity requires the ‘user-centered design process’.!

Starting from the users, trying to understand them as a human being is what ‘user-centered design process’ is all about. The more you know about the customers, the simpler the outcome will be.

Be designful: Understand why ‘user-centered design process’ is the first key to simplicity.