Underrated skill in design: ability to simplify.

It’s easy to get tangled in complexity. The details, details, and more details. But often, complexity is just a distraction.

The next time you feel stuck, try to:

– simplify the presentation
– simplify the case study
– simplify the objectives
– simplify the user flow
– simplify the message
– simplify the interface
– simplify the process
– simplify the routine
– simplify the writing
– simplify the scope
– simplify the offer

Simplifying doesn't always mean less. What can be explained in 5 words to an adult might need 5 sentences for a child. Simplicity means revealing the core essence.

It requires courage, to make difficult decisions, to question the way things have always been done. Lack of clutter is only a consequence:

– Let's depreoritize the X option to narrow the scope.
– Let's reduce Y steps from 8 to 3 to increase the completion rate.
– Let's kill Z feature users rarely use.
– Let's cut the number of X to speed up the development cycle.

When in doubt, simplify. It shows you have the maturity to intentionally take a few steps back if it means achieving the best possible outcome.