The essence of “simplicity” does not lie in what elements are used, but it reduces our cognitive burden.
When we say that an advertisement is well done, it does not mean that it is brilliantly literary, beautiful in pictures, and outstanding in special effects, but that it can hit the hearts of target audiences in a vast crowd of people, and say what they think and feel.
Similarly, for a product, we call it “simple”, not because it uses any elements and techniques to make it appear simple, but because it conveys the least and most accurate information and minimizes our cognitive burden. . In other words: no brains.
With Apple, you don’t have to worry about cache cleaning, memory usage, where is the downloaded video, what is the path of the screenshot, how to completely uninstall the application… You just need to remember, open the settings menu, and everything you want to know is lying intact There, there is no need to look anywhere. Likewise, you don’t need to worry about any “custom” functions-you just need to be honest and practical.
Here we introduce a term called “user involvement degree” . High involvement, such as Android, will bring freedom and free-will pleasure, but simplicity and convenience will be sacrificed; low involvement, such as Apple products, will bring simplicity and “no-brain” simplicity, but autonomy will be sacrificed Sex.
What a simple product should do is: know how to use it at first glance, remember it after using it once, and remember every operation after it becomes an instinctive reaction.
Finally, to summarize:
What is “simplicity”?
Simplicity is: to minimize information; reduce noise; reduce cognitive burden; reduce intervention.