Reading the latest Fireside Chat over at SvN (which has been the most interesting feature on their blog lately) with the brilliant minds of John Maeda and Diego Rodriguez, Matt Linderman summed up a piece of the conversation very intuitively.

diego, intelligible vs. mystifying is a nice reframing of simple vs. complex

This came after Diego was talking about "simplicity" in the car industry, and I think it is a very big point. I have always had a small issue with the whole simple vs complex argument and how it always comes back to a discussion about the number of features. If you read their blog, 37signals themselves, often choose to frame the discussion in this manner.

Echoing the above quote, I think it is more about Understandable vs. Confusing and Clarity vs. Distortion. Many times Simple vs. Complex defaults to a numbers game and ignores the execution and the presentation. 5 features are better than 25. No options are better than 10 options. Etc. Not how to best present those 5 features or 10 options.

Successful designers make complex things understandable through clear and concise presentation, execution, or message. The opposite is also true. Simple things can be made confusing through poor presentation, execution and a distorted message. Sometimes simple or complex has nothing to do with the number of features.

Now I also happen to agree with the fact that we should try to reign in our features and actively make design decisions instead of passing the burden on the the user. But I still think that successful design is a filter through which we can clarify, through which we take the complex and make it understandable. We can improve how people interact with a sometimes complex system, to make it a more satisfying experience.

Features are sometimes things we can control, when they are not, we can still maintain the simplicity. A complex task with many features can be made simple just as a simple task with limited features can be made complex. It's all about presentation, execution, and the drive to clarify and make understandable.