Beauty in limitations
I came across an article today: 10 Features That Will Make Twitter Better. I know, I know, not another Twitter article, but this article got me to thinking of how wonderful things can come from limitations. Twitter is all about limits. You can only type a message with 140 chars. You can only reply to one person at a time. Those are the two major limitations and yet look at how many different ways people are using Twitter.
Now the article linked above gives a good list of suggestions for users. But to be honest Twitter itself doesn’t need those. Twitter has everything it needs already, this doesn’t mean all of its users have everything they want, but that isn’t the point. When people use any type of system enough, they will begin to find workarounds to enhance the system for themselves.
Game consoles last for years with the same technology because developers better understand the limits of the system over time and therefore know how to push those limits further.
How many different ways do you really use a telephone? I’m not talking about the super phones like an iPhone, I mean just the basic telephone service. How often do you find yourself making conference calls? How often do you find yourself dialing 411? How often do you need to *69? The basic premise behind the phone hasn’t changed in a century because it has worked well within its limits. You use it to call one person. That’s it. Make and receive calls. Now you can add a thousand features around that, but that doesn’t mean a phone company needs to do so. People will find their own workarounds for it. Although I’m sure I have three-way calling I have no problem calling one friend and then calling another one after to relay some information.
How many features have been added to email? IM? IRC? Hell, Linux itself is a kernel and nothing more, but users have found ways to work with just the kernel and build out whatever solutions they need. Too often we assume that limits mean we are limiting the potential of something, but in reality you might possibly be enhancing what can be done with a system because people understand the boundaries they need to work within.
I will admit there are times I use Twitter and think how nice it would be to have X feature, but it is never anything I am dying to have or prevents me from using it. As long as you have created a product or service that people use enough and haven’t limited their ability to use it effectively then you have done your job. You have to understand that every specific person will each have their own set of specific features they want implemented in a system. Catering to them all is silly. The more you add to your own system, the harder you make it for yourself to maintain so if anything keep it simple for selfish reasons.
Sure the explanation of how something works can be complex, but there is never a reason for a system that a person uses to be complex. Complexity leads to mistakes and mistakes are ugly. Limiting a system is more difficult than simply blinding creating one. Holding back is against human nature especially when we come up with a million ideas to add to something. Find your boundaries and stay within them and you will eventually find something beautiful inside.