The Simplicity Cycle by Dan Ward

Author:Dan Ward
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-03-19T16:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 19: WHERE AM I?

Our specific location in the “Where Am I?” cloud at any moment in time is less important than our trajectory. Rather than asking, “Where am I?” we should focus on figuring out, “Where am I going?” In engineering terms, our vector matters more than our position and the important thing to identify is whether the latest change to the design makes it better or worse.

One reason our location does not matter much is that the prescribed behaviors for the upper left corner are essentially identical to the prescribed behaviors for the center of the chart. In both cases, improvements require integration, simplification, and streamlining. So don’t spend too much time trying to narrow down a precise location. Think instead in terms of where we’re heading.

Keep in mind that when we talk about the design process, we’re largely talking about making changes to the design. We add things or subtract them, making our object simpler or more complex. So the question is whether the transition from version 1.3 to version 1.4 represents an improvement or merely a complexification. Did our trajectory carry us toward the right, in the direction of increased goodness, or toward the left, where goodness decreases?

The answers to these questions help us identify what type of design behaviors we should adopt next. If our previous step made things more complicated and worse, our next step should probably involve simplification. But if the previous step made things better, we may want to continue along that former path.

Now, if there is one point we could try to identify, it’s the “peak of complexity,” the point of critical mass where increases in complexity reduce goodness. How can we tell if we’re there?

The short answer: we can’t. Cliff Crego explains:

Where the climax of complexity comes we can never know for sure, but natural movement always begins and ends with simplicity.

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