A common mistake software companies make is creating products where features built for advanced users overwhelm and confuse average users. At Hexawise we have focused on creating a great experience for average and new users while providing advanced users powerful options.

How to Avoid a Common Product Mistake Many Teams Make by Mark Suster

The single biggest mistake most product teams make is building technology for what they believe the user would want rather than what the actual end-user needs. … My philosophy is simply. You design your product for the non-technologist. The “Normal.”

Give people fewer options, fewer choices to make. Give them the bare essentials. Design products for your mom. … power users will always find the features they need in your product even if they’re hidden away. Give them a configure button somewhere. From there give them options to soup up the product and add the complexity that goes with newfound power.

Make sure you read his full post and subscribe to his blog, the posts are clearly-written, pragmatic, and insightful.

Our experiences at Hexawise match the points the post makes. We've designed our web-based tool with Jason Fried/37 Signals-inspired "KISS" (Keep It Simple Stupid) design principles in mind. Our interesting debates about how to add (or whether to add) new features have often been based on the exact tensions you mention here. "Power users want new features" vs. "... but users love our tool precisely because it's easy-to-use and it doesn't have 'feature bloat'."

We've experimented with the suggestion you raise here (e.g., rather than say "no" to every advanced user request, we build them in hidden places for advanced users without distracting our regular users). Results have been good so far.

The Bulk add/bulk edit feature in Hexawise is an example of a powerful feature that is implemented in a way that doesn't interfere with the ease of use for those that don't take advantage of this feature.

For us, there are few things more important to our tool's success in the marketplace than our ability to get the balance right between "uncluttered simplicity that everyone wants" vs. "with the powerful capabilities that advanced users want."

There are natural tensions between the two opposing design goals. Sean Johnson (Hexawise CTO) is the strongest advocate for simplicity. John and Justin, Hexawise's CEO, love simplicity, and understand the important of simplicity for usability, but also find ourselves pushing for advanced features.

I am a strong believer in the simplicity with the option for power users to access advanced features. Turning this concept into practice isn't easy. Thankfully Sean has the mindset and skill to make sure we don't sacrifice simplicity and usability while providing power features to power users at Hexawise. I was also lucky enough to have another amazing co-worker, Elliot Laster, at a previous employer that provided this valuable role. One of the tricks to making this work is hiring a great person with the ability to make it a reality (it requires deep technical understanding, an understanding of usability principles and a deep connection to real users, all of which Sean and Elliot have to an amazing degree).

Getting the balance right is one of the most important things a software company can do. We've tried really hard to get it right. We're probably overdue for formal usability testing of basic functionality. Reading blogs like Mark's is useful for new ideas and also for the push to do what you know you should do but seem to keep putting off.