“It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.”
— Albert Einstein in “On the Method of Theoretical Physics" The Herbert Spencer Lecture, delivered at Oxford (June 10, 1933). »
This quote is often paraphrased as "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."
This should be the guiding principle of product design. When you are designing something that helps others solve a complicated problem a certain amount of complexity becomes a requirement. However, the designer should be vigilant that unnecessary complexity not be introduced into the system.
Being able to distinguish necessary complexity from unnecessary complexity might be the greatest test of a designer.
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