Spend time with a young child and you'll notice something.
They are remarkably honest. They're frank and direct, before learning the societal norms of politeness. This behavior is particularly helpful when evaluating the utility of an object.
If something is useful, they use it.
If something is confusing, they ignore it.
If something feels unnecessary, they move on.
Adults are often more complicated. We're sentimental, more tolerant of inconvenience. It's difficult for us to see how cumbersome items or routines really are.
We learn to tolerate inconvenience, we accept clutter as normal, we convince ourselves that complexity equals quality.
Children remind us that good design should feel intuitive.
That's the standard we aspire to.
Products that feel obvious in hindsight.
Products that quietly fit into life rather than asking life to adapt to them.
