K.I.S.S? — my ass!
We’ve been using Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) as a guiding mantra for the products we are developing for a long time now. It might be time to challenge that notion. Oh, there’s nothing like striking down a consensus in its prime!
Time to bust the myth once and for all
It actually makes a lot of sense to make a ‘simple’ product. One that ‘even your mother can understand’. No doubt that’s the logical thing to do. But does that really stick?
When we come to think of it, ‘waterfall’ planning can also be considered the logical thing to do,right? Who wouldn’t want to design a product all the way through. To make sure everything fits exactly in the right place. All processes and details are thoroughly thought through. And that nothing will be changed until the project is shipped…
That’s a silly comparison, many will say, and pull out the obvious examples: Google, Facebook, Instagram and even the the iPhone. Any snot-nosed kid who’s downloaded 5 apps onto his phone, will tell you that millennials and generation-Zs have an attentions span shorter than a goldfish. And that if loading an app takes more than 5 seconds no one will be there to see its first screen… Right?
Let me bust that myth once and for all. Or actually give credit to the BBC that have tracked down the source of the famous Microsoft study + goldfish, only to find out that it’s completely bogus (BBC article by Simon Maybin). So goldfish don’t have short attention spans or memories. There is no evidence human attentions spans are shrinking.
“Keep it simple, my A.S.S.” — Urz Trooli
You see, as much as things might sound reasonable and logical, that’s not how our minds work. I‘d like to challenge the ‘keep it simple’ notion and show that in many cases complexity, a challenge and even a bit of frustration, actually cause us to better and more deeply connect to a product and the value it provides.
This form of connection will almost always out last the ‘simple’ connection and more importantly will cause the product to be ‘activated’ by more and stronger internal triggers and not as reliant on external ones (as disappointing as it might be to all our affection to push notifications).
Examples? Shouldn’t a MS study be enough? ;-)
Let’s explore the most popular apps out there to see if the theory sticks:
Remember Facebook? Not the monstrous product you are connected to on all of your devices. TheFacebook.com of 2004/5 that didn’t yet include the ‘like’ button or even the feed! That Facebook was NOT a simple nor easy product to understand — try to explain that to your mom… 8–12 seconds attention span? Try 15 minutes to register, answer the bio questions and upload your picture… That’s all it was back then, and yet 90% of every college campus they’ve launched were in within a few weeks.
But Facebook is ancient some will say. 2005 almost prehistoric… So let’s talk something a bit more recent targeting a younger population — Fortnite.
Fortnite is one of the more complex games out there. The short tutorial videos are 5 minutes long, not to mention downloading and installing it that would take you at least 20 minutes. So much for a quick and simple onboarding…
Even when you get past that and actually begin to play, the only quick thing that will happen is that you’ll get blown away. One can consider that an ‘achievement’ right? If you want to enjoy this game you have to study, practice, learn — those are not simple stupid tasks. They take time and a whole lot of frustration. Yet it works…
So maybe complexity is a good thing? Maybe it filters out all those user we’ve worked so hard to ‘covert’ through our onboarding funnel, just to lose for good 2 minutes later… Maybe complexity or overcoming and conquering it feels to us users as an achievement worth working for. And the investment / learning process that we’ve painfully gone through is what differentiates us from those who have yet to ‘join the elite club’. Psychologically, we might hate not being ‘in the know’ and being forced to learn. Yet we’re hooked on the sense of achieving mastery of a certain ability. It apparently makes us feel superior to those who have yet to achieve it.
Fantasy sports as a ‘simple’ example
Think of the most boring game you can imagine. Now add to that that it lasts over 6 months. 99% of the time nothing happens. It makes you follow scores of teams you care nothing about. You might not know your opponents, see their faces or speak a word to them the entire time. And worse of all, if you want to be really good at it you have to keep excel sheets and do math calculations of statistics and trades…
That’s how one might describe fantasy sports if they have never played it. And yet it’s a game being played for over 60 years now, by tens of millions of players around the world.
Conclusions
We, as product developers, shouldn’t automatically fear and reject complexity. Simplicity as a tactic does hold obvious benefit. Yet complexity can turn out to be even more valuable when utilized strategically. Taking our users through a more complex flow will most likely increase churn. Yet if done smartly, the ‘surviving’ users have a much higher chance of being retained and converted to our desired action.
The questions left open
It might be time to stop being afraid of complexity, long processes and even frustrating your users. Ask yourself where is your product’s value hidden. And how much of that value is obtained by the user’s ambition and will to achieve mastery.
Does that make your work as a product designer easier? Probably not.
Does that open new paths? Hopefully it does.
Where you take it from here? Well, that depends on how eager YOU are to achieve mastery. Have a thought about that…
Keep it real — not simple, stupid ;-)
About the author:
Yoav Yechiam is a serial entrepreneur. 4 time CEO, numerous product lead positions, lecturer, writer and mentor. He’s currently Chief Product Strategy Consultant at Y-Perspective and holds Analytics courses and workshops.
Yoav is also the founder and head-master of the Startup CEO Course and the Product Leadership Course — productMBA
