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What is Worse Is Better?

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Worse is better is the rule of thumb that quality doesn't necessarily rise with functionality. This is based on the observation that technology with limited features often beats far more complex technologies in the market. Worse is better suggests that customers prioritize ease of usability. They may also prefer products that are easy to understand such as food with a comprehensible list of ingredients.
Overview: Worse Is Better
Type
Design Principle
Definition (1)
Quality doesn't necessarily rise with functionality.
Definition (2)
Value doesn't necessarily rise with functionality.
Examples
A bottle of apple juice with one ingredient: organic apple juice may be preferred to a product with a dozen ingredients that sound like chemicals.
Software that jumps on every trend with a mediocre implementation until it's completely bloated may lose market share to simple tools such as mobile apps.
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Citation

John Spacey. "What is Worse Is Better?." Simplicable. Retrieved August 11, 2026. from https://simplicable.com/IT/worse-is-better

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