Simple & Concise = Usable
This post was made Apr 20, 2009 by Carlos del Rio
“Brevity is the soul of wit” — Hamlet
If you keep it simple everything is easier. Simple navigation and design is more likely to be intuative, clear and efficient. But, how do you accomplish simplicity? There is a fine line between too vague and sublime efficiency.
Taglines for companies are a great example of the issue (Dan & Chip Heath explain it well), Twitter exemplifies the problem too, it takes a great deal of thinking to reach perfection. Ultimately, the time you spend in process is far greater the simpler you try to be.
Here are some famous examples:
- Just do it
- We bring good things to life
- Plop plop fizz fizz. Oh, what a relief it is.
In general, you want your communication to be clearer than “Just do it,” more specific than “We bring good things to life,” and less cutesy than “Plop plop fizz fizz. Oh, what a relief it is.” My advice for being simple and concise is to not think about it very hard. From a user perspective good enough is fine, people really will stick with you if it is clear you are taking them where they want to be.
Rules of thumb:
- Avoid superlative adjectives
- Answer questions
- Use common language
Some Real Life Examples
Here is roughly how we named the book User Driven Change: Give Them What They Want
Question: Why should changes be user driven?
Answer: Because, if you give people what they are looking for they will take action.
On your website you can write out the whole thing. You don’t need to make it any shorter. One of the great things about a website is it supports robust communication you don’t have to confine yourself to slogans and character limits.
Next an example of to different company descriptions taken from Medfinds Alternative Health Directory.
OKAY (from the Home Page)
Medfinds.com is a comprehensive website for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Our growing directory of local alternative medicine doctors, schools and events is a simple gizmo for better health. You can easily find reliable information about alternative healthcare providers, holistic therapies, natural health remedies and the latest health news in our Resource Center. From acupuncture to weight loss, find your alternative on Medfinds
BETTER (from the About Page)
Medfinds is all about alternative medicine. You may be a patient looking for a local holistic healer, a student looking for a healing arts school, or a consumer seeking more reliable information about health; Medfinds is far more useful than a phone book — it’s about finding an alternative.
Both versions describe the same website function. But, the second one has a clear asked and answered quality that gets right to the point. Try taking one of the paragraphs from you home page and get rid of the extra adjectives, and remember you can use as many words as it takes as long as you continue to pass along real information.
USE SIMPLE AND COMMON LANGUAGE. I’m so glad that you mentioned this. I can’t even count how many sites I’ve been to where I don’t understand the jargon. I’m a newbie and I’m pretty much starting from scratch. I agree with simplicity is key, idea.