Comments on: Three secrets to simplicity

By: Paul Boag

Paul Boag — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:11:00 +0000

Glad you found it useful and you are not alone. This is something we have to contend with too. This post might help: http://boagworld.com/business-strategy/getting-agreement-for-your-homepage/

By: Joanne Masterson

Joanne Masterson — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:10:00 +0000

Paul – You hit the nail on the head when you said it’s easier to leave things up than do the work of reviewing and taking some things down. Thanks for giving us 3 ways to simplify content: which I like to think of as Cut, Collapse or Carve off to a new page. Plus, you quoted my favorite book Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think”! Yes – this post is well worth re-running, esp for people like me who missed it the first time.

By: Karl Craig-West

Karl Craig-West — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:37:00 +0000

Thanks Paul.

A very useful and concise reminder to us all. I’m constantly battling against clients who want the kitchen sink on their home page.

By: Tim Leighton-Boyce

Tim Leighton-Boyce — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:02:00 +0000

There’s an interesting article on a similar point by usability expert Jared Spool:

http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2011/11/04/clutter/

He points out that ‘clutter’ on a site is anything that each individual visitor is not looking for right now. And that will include lots of stuff that you might want them to see. The advice you give here is a great way of starting to deal with the problem. But it’s so hard to be ruthless with your own stuff.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:23:56 +0000

I’m going to copy/paste those 3 lures of complexity for future reference. No matter how many times I explain we should use as few words as possible and we don’t have to explain EVERYTHING on the website, the copy still eventually gets bloated by tiny details and an abundance of sales speak. Maybe if I can direct them to look at what a respected web developer says they might listen…? Maybe…? Oh well, I can live in hope…

By: Andrew Pryde

Andrew Pryde — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:13:02 +0000

The problem is in this service industry we work in we have to listen to the clients as they pay the bills. I hope this post will help alleviate some of my lengthy explanations.
Thanks allot,
@Prydie

By: Astraliis

Astraliis — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:01:19 +0000

Having a stream of Twitter replies on the page never makes sense because they're always off-topic. Talk about noise.

By: Chris Colhoun

Chris Colhoun — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:56:03 +0000

Paul, Thanks for the tips. Simplicity is something I have been trying to get across with my new site design. In fact the key selling point of my site is it's simplicity using very little graphics. Great post keep them coming.

By: tejas

tejas — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:11:03 +0000

Thanks for the article. I was actually trying to reduce the content from my website and was wondering if I am doing right, and your article boosted my confidence. Thanks once again.

By: Adam Smith

Adam Smith — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:51:21 +0000

Great article, and I think this is something all web designers would agree with.
However, in cases where it’s not the web designer making the sale – this can really start to fall down. Less content, less options can often mean less work, and unfortunately that only leaves honest web designers and agencies offering the best solution.
To put this in context, I saw a company today, whose sole purpose is to increase lead conversion from a very high PPC budget. They didn’t want to explain their services in any real detail and just wanted to drive enquiries. My solution therefore was a clean & concise website, with minimal distraction and a single, short funnel to the appropriate call to action (contact form). Initially we were on the back foot as another agency had ‘lots of interesting ideas’. Further discussion showed these to be actually working against the main objective, such as Live Person, a Flash Calculator, and loads of other faff that was clearly included to boost the value for an unsuspecting buyer.
Also from the client’s point of view who’s in charge of the website, they don’t want their boss saying ‘….Is that it?’ once it’s live, and therefore may also have some responsibility for additional features and content that doesn’t really add value.
Just a thought, but I guess this could be why we see a lot of unneeded features in websites.