Yesterday night a taxi driver asked for directions to a destination a bit away from our current place. I assume he doesn’t have a phone or maps at that time. I gave him the route in full detail, it goes like this; take a left and in the second signal take a right, then left, and so on. Within a moment, I could see his face, looks like he might drop the plan of going there. Then I just gave him the next two turns. Take a left and in the dead-end take a right then ask someone. His face turned bright.
I believe this is true in life, design, and entrepreneurship as well, even though we know in full detail and we might need to tell less.
The problem is not at the information-sending end, but it is at the receiving end. Our human brain is tuned for patterns and abstraction. Energy is required to consume information; detail works only when the incentives are clear.
Designers call it Minimalism, but many think it is a trend. It is not a trend, it’s a way of life.
