Simple everyday design

When I was in high school we had an assignment to write a program that would perform some basic functions. The team I was on managed to write the entire code for the program on a sheet of paper. On the other hand another team managed to use three pages or more for the same result. At Creating Passionate Users we have this same thing being played out in everyday products.

"It's a gazillion degrees in my house right now, but I can't figure out the thermostat controls, so the heat's still on and the air conditioning unreachable. My new Denon receiver/tuner sounds amazing--good thing I'm using it mostly with my iPod; I have no clue how to tune in a radio station. When I bring up the newer versions of Microsoft Word, it looks so utterly foreign and overwhelming to me now that I give up and close it. And all I wanted to do was type a simple letter..." more