Keep it simple, stupid

When I first sat down to brainstorm potential article subjects for Adept, I spent time mentally listing technical subjects that I might cover. Maybe start with design? Server-side concepts? Maybe focus on SEO? Frontend frameworks, JavaScript runtimes, rendering 3D in the browser, animating assets, load-time performance, CMS options? When it comes to web development, there are plenty of interesting and relevant topics that one could write about.

For whatever reason, as I was pondering the pile of topics, KISS came to mind as a side-thought and stuck out. It’s a principle that should be considered at the very beginning of any project and one that is particularly applicable to web development, a field where dozens of disciplines intersect in various measures according to the problem at hand.

Maybe it’s different for you, but I’ve found myself guilty of walking into projects thinking about what features I would want when I should be thinking about what’s most important for the end user. When it comes to client work, KISS is something that I’ve committed to starting with.

Keeping it simple has a lot of benefits. Most importantly, the end user gets exactly what they’re looking for, be that information or functionality. Simplicity makes projects more maintainable, allows for easier additions and modification when needed, keeps costs down, and creates clarity with respect to what is working and what isn’t.

Looking at this site, you might think that Adept has broken this principle. After all, we're sporting web shaders (the logo and the background blob effect) and gratuitous image texture usage. Those aren't "keeping it simple", right? Despite the insane amount of optimization going on behind the scenes that keeps our site fast (even on regular 3G!), I will admit that's a correct conclusion. The real point that I'm trying to make is that KISS should be the foundation for your project.

KISS is a good starting point, and in some cases, it might be enough to carry the whole project from beginning to end. But there’s another idea that I’m committed to when I’m working on websites, it’s that web design and development isn’t soulless, it’s an art form. Bob Ross (RIP) has a nice quote, “Don’t forget to make all these little things individuals — all of them special in their own way.”

It’s a balancing act. Make your website simple enough to meet user’s needs but add enough on top to make the experience something that stands out in a sea of mediocrity. Leave a comment below, I would love to know how you think about balancing simplicity and all the extra stuff in your profession (doesn’t need to be web development related). Thanks for reading!