Simple or Complex?

When it comes to Visceral Design, I believe that simplicity is very important. When a product is simple, it is usually more attractive to the eye because the designer focused more on the actual design of the product than all of the features that it has. For behavioral design, I believe that a product can be either complex or simple, depending on what type of product it is. For example, someone might buy a product because it can do a lot of things making it complex, or they might buy a product because it does a specific thing very well. Reflexive design, in my opinion, tends to be simple, but it can also be complex as well. Most items that are reflexive are so because they carry a level of prestige; however, an item can also be reflexive because the consumer has mastered this complex product.

"I bought a digital camera with much more options than I needed or would ever use. Some of them I don’t even really know what they mean. However it is fairly simple to just take a ‘normal’ picture. I wanted to be able to do all sorts of fancy photography, just in case." -Liz

"Sometimes complex things can be more more desirable. One thing that comes to my mind is my friend's microwave. It is a really cool microwave that can do all of these different options. It has a toaster on it plus all of these really fancy buttons. The first time I tried to use the machine I could not even get it started. Once i figured it out i learned how to use the basic toaster and the microwave features but not much else. I still would like to get that microwave but not anytime soon." -Andy

I chose the above excerpts from Liz and Andy's blogs because I found them very interesting and although they describe two completely different products, the ideas are still the same. Liz purchased a digital camera because it was very complex and she wanted to do "all sorts of fancy photography." Andy, however, discusses his friend's microwave toaster with numerous functions that when he first tried to operate it he failed to even get it started. Both of these posts describe the desirability of complexity with added function.