Simplicity Enables Adoption
Simple ideas beat complex ones because they're easier to adopt. If people need deep context to understand the value, rethink it.
Simplicity Enables Adoption
The insight: Simple ideas often beat complex ones, not because they're easier to build, but because they're easier to adopt. If people need deep product context to understand the value, you might be solving the wrong problem.
Why this matters: Adoption is the real metric. A sophisticated solution that nobody uses is worse than a simple solution that everyone uses.
The test: Can you explain the value to someone outside your team in one sentence? Can they immediately see how it helps them? If not, simplify.
Common traps:
- •Building for power users before you have any users
- •Adding features to prove sophistication
- •Solving edge cases before solving the main case
- •Making people learn your mental model instead of meeting theirs
The discipline: Resist the urge to add "just one more thing" to make it complete. Ship the simple version first.