That being said this is perfect approach for making simple apps, which aren’t supposed to do that much.

The original list of ten mentioned that “confusion is the ultimate dealbreaker”. A marketing expert I know says “a confused mind always says NO”. Same concept and I couldn’t agree more. If something either starts out confusing or becomes confusing along the way, I’m outta there in search of another solution.

If software isn’t intuitive, I bail. Ok, maybe I’m just a big baby, but I just want the tools I use to be as easy as possible to get the result I want so I can move along. I think any technology company can build tools that are simple for techies to use… the mark of a great technology (IMHO) is one that can build tools that are simple for techno-dorks like me to use.

If I have to take a class to use something, I probably won’t. (Unless it’s a matter of business life or death) A perfect example of simplicity making me happy is my blog. I am still flabbergasted at how simple it is to create a blog that looks all fancy-schmancy. Sure there’s a slight learning curve, and I’m sure I’ll continue to learn how to improve it, but I was literally able to get the first iteration of my blog up and running immediately without downloading a manual or calling tech support. And that’s key.

users cease to be passive as soon as you give them the tools of creation. Instead of assuming that 90% of your users are passive, assume that 100% are potential content creators, then build the tools that enable that to happen.

Otherwise some of these things are also relative such as “You can’t make things easier by adding to them.” – related to frameworks, particularily ORM, if you know SQL what you did with WACT’s db API makes a whole lot more sense than any kind of ORM. And somehow feel it’s probably easier to teach someone SQL than it is to teach someone about objects but perhaps I’m wrong there.

1. Good design is still important. In fact, brilliant design is really what is needed — and the knowledge and vision that it ncessary to achieve it.

2. Interface is what it is all about because that is how people use the stuff you create. For classes, libraries and frameworks interface is critical.

3. External simplicity may mean internal complexity — that makes our jobs doubly interesting.

You link to Ruby on Rails and it is interesting that the first thing that most people hear about ROR is, “You can get an app up and running in …”

So who’s the best rapid in a rapid world?