The function of good software is to make the complex appear to be simple. — Grady Booch

The function of good software is to make the complex appear to be simple.

Author: Grady Booch

Insight: We encounter this principle everywhere, not just in code. A really good app feels obvious to use because someone sweated the details so you wouldn't have to. The best tools—whether physical or digital—hide their complexity behind something that just works. You don't think about how your car's transmission functions; you just drive. That's the entire goal. The tricky part is that this simplicity is almost always built on layers of intricate thinking. It's easy to confuse "simple to use" with "simple to create." In fact, the opposite is usually true. Making something foolproof requires deep understanding of what could go wrong and what actually matters to the person using it. A cluttered interface that exposes every possible feature isn't honest—it's lazy. What's worth noticing is how this applies beyond software. A well-written email that feels effortless to read probably took someone longer to write than a rambling one. A good teacher makes difficult concepts click because they've thought through which parts confuse people most. Whenever you encounter something that feels intuitive, you're probably looking at the result of someone choosing clarity as their primary job.

Source: Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications, 1994