Like many engineers, I tend to dive deep on technical matters and get a bit lost before coming up for air and realizing that maybe a simpler solution would’ve been the right approach after all. As I’ve grown older, I’ve also gotten better at noticing this tendency and steering myself away from it whenever possible. Sometimes I succeed, other times I fail. However, I have slowly started to appreciate the simplicity of a less designed solution.
One way I try to practice this simplicity is by going through my list of “Problems in Need of Solutions” (this “need” for solutions is highly subjective as you’ll see later) on a regular basis and forcing myself to create as simple a solution as possible. Often times, I’ll take the first thing that comes to mind as a potential solution, lightly review it for feasibility, and then begin the process of making a next solution with the only additional challenge of having to be easier to implement than the previous idea.
- Step 1 – Identify a problem
- Step 2 – Write down / sketch anything that works
- Step 3 – Make something simpler than the last idea
- Step 4 – Repeat Step 3
I would love to be able to say that I am great at this and have opened up a wonderful world of perfect engineering and design that would melt your face like the Ark of the Covenant if you were to ever lay eyes upon it, but alas, that is not the case. But by consciously following this process, it has helped me re-evaluate my own approach to many problems.
Occasionally, by following this above practice, I end up with something that gets used frequently, disappears into the background, and elicits a smile every time I think about its minuscule contribution to my life. One such object that I’ve recently made and get far more joy out of than any human rightly should is a small C-clip that fits the neck of SoftSoap dispensers and restricts the pump travel.
Why does something so small, simple, and possibly stupid bring me so much joy? I think it’s partly due to it being some kind of intensely benign attack against our corporate overlords who foolishly think they can pull the wool over our eyes and steal our hard earned dollars through means of over-dispensing liquid soap containers. But also, it is something that just does what it does. It is simple. It fits properly, the height is dialed in for the right amount of soap to be dispensed, and it isn’t a permanent modification. I started with much more complex approaches involving custom dispensers with monitoring abilities and feedback loops, then moved on to some adjustable universal clamp designs that could go on any kind of pump, but ultimately, I settled on a dirt simple extruded C clip. And I couldn’t be happier.
So, go look at all the tiny little things in your life that annoy you and solve just one of them. Don’t be crippled by thinking your next design has to solve world hunger and don’t overcomplicate things. Design something simple and bathe in that simplicity.
Want to print a Softsoap Pump Clip of your own?
Grab the STL over at Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2875359