19.02. Avoid the “Illusion of Simplicity” Heuristic principle/checkpoint

In the early years of this century, Apple became so focused on generating the illusion of simplicity for the potential buyer that they began seriously eroding the productivity of their products. They thought they had a good reason: They wanted new products to look bright, shiny, and simple to potential users. That’s an excellent goal, but actual simplicity is achieved by simplifying things, not by hiding complexity. (See Visibility.)
It’s just fine to make your showroom products look simple, but, to the extent you want to hide complexity to avoid scaring away buyers, do so in the showroom, not in the home or office of the purchaser now trying to accomplish real work. I started putting a special Dealer Mode into Apple software in 1978, so that the product would look and act differently in the showroom than in the buyer’s home. Computers allow that. Somewhere along the line, people forgot.