As a non-geek I fell in love with my Flip video because of the
things I didn’t have to learn to enjoy using it. Like Skype, it is intuitively
simple. No instruction book to feel guilty for not reading.
I am not alone. “I'm snuggled under the covers with Jon Stewart and the remote. The "Evolution/ Schmevolution" skit is funny, but it's been a long day, and I'm fading fast. The promise of technology is that I'm one click away from slumberland. I hit the power button. The picture disappears, but the TV is still glowing a creepy blue that will haunt my dreams if I don't make it go away. I try the TV button. Nothing. The CABLE button. Same....” writes Marrisa Mayer.
Now, Scion got it. They “drastically reduced the number of
standard features to allow Generation-Y buyers to make a personal statement by
customizing their cars,” observed Matt May. To seduce us into using your products, eliminate extras, suggests
Matt May. (Barry Schwartz would agree.)
Leave some things unsaid.
In his book In Pursuit of Elegance, Matt advises removing elements you assume are essential. Become comfortable with leaving a project unfinished, a part of an idea unexplained.
Here’s his premise for such incompleteness. To stand out from the crowd, evoke four elements in your work and life that can add elegance and evoke simplicity and the power to surprise:
- Seduction
- Subtraction
- Symmetry
- Sustainability
As profitable examples he cites ‘N Out Burger, Zappos and Apple among many others. Simple is hard, yet in a complex world “less is more.”
In keeping with this premise, I continue to clear away the obstructing underbrush of my life, the clothes I don’t wear, the distracting items of “ought to” and the organizations that belong to past chapters of my life I’m trusting that what’s left is what most sustains me in the next chapter of the adventure I want my life to be now.
