October 2004

[Note: This is an updated and edited version of the original article that appeared on Design by Fire. This version was edited by Linda Jorgensen of The Editorial Eye and appears in the April 2006 issue.]
A few simple questions: Should designers be bound by some ethical mantra to make their work deeper, more thoughtful, and more complex rather than to aim for the lowest common denominator of a user base?
Should designers require users to think instead of allowing them to glide thoughtlessly through Web sites, software, or other electronic products ?
Should every control and widget be labeled explicitly?
Should every set of instructions be aimed at the most inexperienced user?
Should everything be so damned obvious all of the time?
To be even blunter: Is the push of professionals in the design and usability fields to make everything more obvious counterproductive to the world at large?
Before we explore that question, let’s take a step back and look at a larger issue that provides some context for this line of questioning.
A culture of quick ‘n’ easy
Many of us in the design field go out of our way to give people what they...