Simplicity is a by-product

Everyone asks for a simple website. Almost nobody asks for the two things Rand says simplicity is made of: a good idea, and modest expectations.

Chasing simplicity directly produces minimalism theatre: pages with heroic amounts of whitespace that still can't answer a basic question, because the complexity was hidden rather than resolved. Real simplicity is different. It is what is left over when the idea is clear and the page has stopped trying to do six jobs at once.

The 'modest expectations' half is the one that stings. A homepage that must announce everything the founder is proud of will never be simple, no matter who designs it. Scope discipline is a design skill, maybe the design skill, and it mostly consists of saying 'not on this page' in a friendly tone of voice.

So when we cut something from a layout, we are not being precious. We are protecting the good idea from its admirers.