Why do we produce such complicated products when most would with Ockham’s Razor that “entities should not be multiplied without necessity.” How do things end up so complex when we all want to have the simplest possible solution, design, or implementation that we can come up with?
I believe there are a few reasons:
- We don’t know how to say no. We try to solve every possible user need and use case.
- We are too rushed in our process, so we don’t take the time to step back and reconsider simpler ways to accomplish the same thing.
- We fall in love with our first idea and fail to be objective about it.
- A complex solution makes us look smart, important, valuable, or keeps the contract going.
What other reasons have you seen in product management or product design that keep us from pursuing simplicity?
