As a society, we seem to have mixed feelings about whether it’s better to add or subtract things, and we recommend that ‘less is more’ and ‘bigger is better’. But these conflicting views play out in multibillion-dollar industries, and people pour over the latest features of their hardware and software before complaining that the extra complexity makes the product difficult to use.
A team of researchers from the University of Virginia decided to investigate the behaviors underlying this stress, and in a new article determined that most people do not have the ability to assume that the best way to deal with a problem , is to add new features. Although it was easy to overcome this trend with a few simple buttons, the researchers suggest that this thought process may lay the foundation for the increasing complexity of the modern world.
Let’s add things
According to the researchers, they became interested in the topic because they noticed that many fields, in addition to the admonition that there are fewer, had specific advice on improvement by subtraction. Editors warn writers about the use of redundant language, social scientists talk about the need to remove barriers, and so on. On the other hand, there are few reminders to add things to solve problems.
Maybe people, according to the researchers, have no trouble remembering to add things, even without asking for it. So, bottom line is that we’re collecting some data on people’s trends in this regard. They found that additive solutions are much more common than deductions. For example, when an incoming university president asked for ideas for improvement, only 11 percent were involved in getting rid of something. In an experiment that made patterns of colored squares, only 20 percent of the participants removed squares to achieve a pattern, although both options were equally viable.
And so it went. When only 28 percent of participants were asked to improve an itinerary, they eliminated destinations. Essay improvements in all but 17 percent resulted in an increase in the number of words. People just did not tend to take things away in a wide variety of contexts.
The obvious next question is “why?” This could be because people never even think about removing something, or it could be that we consider the idea and then reject it for various reasons. Another possibility is that we have internalized the ‘more is better’ attitude, and that it distorts the solutions we consider viable candidates. The researchers therefore designed a series of experiments to evaluate these different explanations.
Why did I not think of it?
One of the experiments was to give the participants a pattern of colored and white squares and ask them to change the colors to make the pattern symmetrical. In all cases, symmetry was much, much easier to achieve by taking away a few colored squares, but only half of the participants recognized this solution. However, when given a few opportunities to practice, the rate of deductible solutions rose to 63 percent.
This apparently indicates that people do not always use subtraction solutions as their standard, but eventually it will work out. To further investigate this question, the researchers conducted the same experiment, but gave the participants additional tasks to divert their attention. The addition of cognitive load seemed to reduce the likelihood that participants would come up with subtractive solutions, suggesting that it takes mental energy to overcome people a natural tendency to ignore deduction options.
A few extra experiments looked at the original topic that got the authors interested in the topic: the little buttons we use to make people think that less can be more. Here, the researchers used a control set of instructions that simply outlined the task and a second set in which the instructions specifically mentioned the option to remove something. These hugs seem to work. In a typical experiment, the number of participants who suggested subtraction solutions increased by 20 percentage points compared to the control instructions.
The researchers also conducted an experiment to aggravate a problem rather than improve it. There was no significant difference in the use of subtraction solutions between the improvement of something and the aggravation, suggesting that people do not focus on additive solutions simply because they consider subtraction solutions worse.
In general, the researchers conclude that people do not regularly consider deduction solutions. When they finally think about it, they often find that it is a good option. And small directions seem to make people think again about their tendency to just add more good when they change.
Add limits
All this is possibly useful knowledge. But it is important to realize that there are reasonable and practical limits to when meaningful solutions make sense. Addressing improvement proposals to a university president, to borrow one of the examples from the paper, may prevent some of your colleagues’ departments from being cleared. Moreover, in many cases elements exist for reasons that may not be clear without a deep understanding of the system. It can even exist for aesthetic reasons.
Finally, we must also realize that there is often value in adding something.
Nevertheless, the study offers a simple and effective solution to find a wider range of solutions – if appropriate, remind people that features can be removed.
Nature, 2021. DOI: 10.1038 / s41586-021-03380-y (About DOIs).