Simple over Complete

Every feature you add is a feature you’ll have to maintain forever.

The best products aren’t the ones with the most features. They’re the ones that do a few things exceptionally well. Simplicity is itself a feature — often the most important one.

What This Means in Practice

• Default to “no” for new features
• Consider maintenance cost, not just build cost
• Remove before adding
• Measure success by problems solved, not features shipped

The Anti-Pattern

You’re violating this pillar when you:

• Add features because competitors have them
• Say “yes” to avoid difficult conversations
• Build for edge cases before nailing the core
• Measure productivity by feature count

The Mantra

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Simple is hard. Simple is worth it.