The Elegance of Simplicity

 I have been pretty open about where my life has been the past few weeks (the good and bad) but I wanted to focus in on one specific point. I have serious dreams of starting a business (a couple at this point) and am in the process of figuring out the framework with things like design, programming, marketing, team structure, and the most important, the name. The name has given me headaches and my close friend/business partner is much better at rattling off names off the cuff. Maybe overthinking means no results, but you just want it to be perfect. You want it to click, to be an instant hit. No redo's, business and time are both unforgiving. 

Consumers love simple. Long names mean longer website URL's, more chances to forget it, and opportunities for better names to take the spotlight. This part can be hard, and I am fighting hard to keep it simple. That battle is harder than it looks.

There is one movie scene that has stood out to me for 11+ years. For preface, I am massive movie fan but only for specific movies. I enjoy watching box office hits and critically acclaimed movies over and over and over again. Weird, I get it. But I appreciate those movies because there are so many little details that you don't get until your 5th or 6th time viewing them. 

In The Social Network, the scene where Sean Parker played by Justin Timberlake meets with Mark, Eduardo, and his girlfriend is flawless. Everything you need to know about all 3 characters is displayed in 4 minutes. Granted, it helps when the writing and acting is superb to get the responses from viewers that you want. Dialogue is simple, acting and emotions are simple, the costumes are simple. But it works so perfectly, and the last line is what steals the scene, "Drop the "the, just Facebook." Simple.

We are fighting for complexity everyday. In a world that continues to become increasingly competitive, people feel they need to stand-out in weird ways. Why? Simple, or at least the illusion of simple, is better. Stop making it harder for your customers. Sleek, Sexy, Simple. Easier said than done.