Simple systems for complex experiences
Lately such issues have been spinning in my head, and my mind keeps snapping back to a portion of the Neal Stephenson novel Cryptonomicon “Mechanically, all of this was handled in a fashion that was perfectly clear, simple, and logical. Lawrence had supposed that the machine must be at least as complicated as the most intricate fugue that could be played on it. Now he had learned that a machine, simple in its design, could produce results of infinite complexity.” [page 7] This discovery by the character Lawrence reminds me a great deal of Tim Brown’s proposal that tools and rules are the design components of emergent systems. Well design systems that cater to the needs of individual users don’t have to be as complex and tailored as they may seem to the end user. The challenge is designing a simple system of tools and rules that can address the complexity without becoming mired down in the complexity yourself.
Dealing with extremely complex experience problems can be overwhelming. Mixing together personalization, customization, user participation, segmentation, and moving components of systems and organizations to deliver the right experience to the right customer can often seem to too big to bite off.
