“We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works. How do you recognize something that is still technology? A good clue is if it comes with a manual.” — Douglas Adams

It’s ironic that making simple products is difficult, but it is. It requires discipline to design simple products, discipline to focus on real-world use and experience of a product rather than guesses about use, and discipline to market the real value versus the sheen of extra features.

John Maeda’s seventh law of simplicity expresses a similar idea with an interesting phrasing, suggesting that the simpler thing becomes cognitively more…

The more care, attention, and effort applied
to that which is less, the more it shall be perceived
as more than it really is.