A friendly reminder to all of us building tech: power ≠ usability.

Daniel De Laney’s post “Normal” is going viral in tech — and for good reason.

He shows a TV remote with most of its buttons covered in tape. Only the essentials remain. It’s absurdly simple — and perfect for the person using it.

That image captures what’s wrong with most software: too many buttons, too much flexibility, too little empathy. Users don’t want optionality; they want clarity. They don’t want to “learn a system”; they just want it to work.

If you’re building for non-experts, design for the taped-over remote first. Hide complexity. Reveal it only when someone asks for it.

Software wins when it feels obvious. Everything else is just noise.


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