Return on Complexity

Tags: Business,  Design,  Theory
March 16, 2005 by barbara

I've recently taken to using the phrase "return on complexity", in the same sense as return on investment. The basic idea is that every bit of complexity added to a product has some cost, and some perceived benefit.

For any product design or feature decision, I ask:

  1. what are the costs?
  2. what are the benefits?
  3. do the benefits outweigh the costs?

This is simple in concept but more complex in implementation. Costs include increased customer service, decreased code reliability, reduced usage, and so forth - it depends on the situation.

In my experience, businesses assume that more complexity - more features, more options - is better. Time and time again the answer to some design argument is, "let's add that into the user options". This is not the right way to look at things.

Instead, start simple. Add complexity, such as a user option, only after weighing costs and benefits. Then, if it still makes sense, add the new stuff.

I'll talk more about this later.


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1 Comment

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