As designers and usability experts, we have always claimed that we “tame complexity.” What does that mean? Are we removing the complexity, rearranging it, hiding it, or resolving it in some other way? Depending on the situation, the answer is that all of these methods come into play. We remove, rearrange and hide; but complexity never really disappears. Designing usable interfaces requires discipline to remove features in some cases, to organize others so they can be found and used, and to shift complexity away from users to more appropriate places.

Is the complexity necessary? It often is. In many technologies, complexity is the very heart of the power and functionality. A oil rig is an physical example of a complex system, where the structure of the platform must be rigid enough for production activity but flexible enough to cope with changing weather conditions. Another system where complexity is necessary is the mail-routing software used by the U.S. Postal Service. The system must “read” zip codes and addresses, whether typed or written, through a series of optical scanners. The system must route the envelopes to their destination and deal with a variety of errors (e.g., no zip code, unreadable digits, etc). When the complexity is necessary to the product - we don’t remove it but rather focus on putting it in its place (hence the taming)…