When IoT vendors pitch shiny new tools or platforms, they often focus on features; more protocols, more dashboards, more connectivity options, and yes, more data. It might be time to get real. In industrial or manufacturing environments, time isn’t money; time is survival. A device that requires training manuals and firmware updates just to function isn’t “smart,”it’s a liability.
Simplify: Every new interface, dashboard, or setting, adds cognitive overhead; the mental effort required to figure out how to make the thing work within a workflow. In theory, you want the “best” tool. But in reality, introducing yet another system into the stack means integration, dependencies and more potential points of failure.
Often, what people need is less tool, more flow. Something that works with and blends into existing systems, and is easily understood by the person on site, because it has a place, a context and a function. This customer-centric perspective is a core asset of your design team, it makes sense to apply it in the real world.
What happens when it breaks? Here’s the part no one wants to say: Tools should broadly match the skills already in the room. Sure, your company might be “future-proofing” by choosing Captain Picard’s scalable “enterprise class” system, but if your local Scotty can’t configure or debug it, then what you’ve bought is an exceptionally expensive black box with a blinking red light.
Simplicity Is Scalability
You want adoption? Make it so simple it’s boring.
- Clear installation.
- Minimal setup.
- Interoperable with existing systems.
- Easy to train someone new.
Every unnecessary bell and whistle increases onboarding time, raises support costs, and slows the steps to value. In many industries, the tool that gives 80% of the functionality, but is 20% easier to use, will win. Think about it. This post cannot end without referencing Steve Jobs. He was the poster boy and “original” in taking simplicity and usable tech to the ordinary person. He may be gone, but his “pop” art concept is still something we can learn from.
“Most enjoyable activities are not natural; they demand an effort that initially one is reluctant to make. But once the interaction starts to provide feedback to the person’s skills, it usually begins to be intrinsically rewarding.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Flow)
