Creating anything in tech is always a tightrope walk. On the one hand, you want to make something that will solve as many problems as possible and therefore have massive appeal. On the other, you want to make it simple to use and as focused as possible to make sure users don’t get frustrated. Today we’re looking at the pros and cons of each approach and how you can balance them.
Simple
The simple approach to tech design is currently the dominant one as budding tech entrepreneurs are warned of the risks of overcomplicating things. Some of the most successful apps ever released were single-function, and some industries are entirely based on the concept. When you look at online casino titles for instance, you’ll find a vast array of simple but effective designs from Paddy Power blackjack games to even Evolution’s live game shows. These games operate with only a handful of controls, cutting away anything unnecessary from the layout or operation.
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It’s an old engineering adage that a design is perfect if there’s nothing left to take away, although there is the clear downside of limiting yourself in audience and revenue by staying strictly simple. Single-purpose apps can be great, but they risk being overtaken by apps that do the same thing but with additional functions.
Complex
The opposite approach is to go for the Swiss army knife strategy and add as many features as possible. As long as those features are somewhat related, it allows the product to appeal to the widest possible audience. There are plenty of great examples of this style, and it’s a feature of the biggest names in tech like Apple and Microsoft
The downsides of this approach are perhaps more pronounced than the simple approach, as in general the more functions you have in tech, the more likely it is for something to go wrong. No matter how solid 90% of your features or functions are, it is all undermined if just one part isn’t working as expected. As tech goes, it’s a gambling approach.
Weighing Up
Finding the sweet spot here is a challenge, but there are ways to incorporate the best elements of both. When you’re starting out, either as an app or particularly as a physical gadget, choosing one specific problem to tackle is almost always the best solution, although you should leave space for future expansion in your initial designs. This could be a code infrastructure sitting under the surface or an add-on socket or something along those lines.
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Remember that most of the biggest multipurpose apps in the world started with just one or two features, nailed those features down, and then added extra features one at a time. If you take, for example, the financial services app Revolut, they began as a basic debit card and digital wallet system, and can now handle crypto and full banking services as well.
In the end, part of it will always come down to what is right for your product. After all, going big may be a risk, but every risk still has the chance of a positive outcome!