People usually think that variety and simplicity don't go together. They think that if you simplify something, then you end up reducing what is available.
To explain this better I will take it from the beginning and explain what each term means. When we talk about variety, we want to have a lot of stuff to choose from, but this can in turn become overwhelming. So now we have the option of applying one of the two following ways of making choice easier:
- Minimalism. If we apply minimalism to the variety of things we have, then we are minimising the amount of stuff on offer. So if for example we had 56 different boxes of cereal, we would go down to 8.
- Simplicity. Simplicity is not about minimising what is available. Instead, it's about making it easier for people to find what they want. So if we want a big variety, we can then create segments of products based on a common characteristic. This can in turn help while searching for a product. Looking at the cereal box example, if we had 56 different boxes we would use simplicity to create 7 categories of 8 products each. Within that category we can go down a level and fragment it further for easier choice.
From the above two options we can see how different minimalism and simplicity are. Although minimalism is part of simplicity, simplicity is a lot more than just minimalism.
If we want to offer a variety of products and still make it easy for our customers to buy, then we need to simplify in order to create clear categories and segments to fit their needs. A great example of this has been done by JustShops, instead of creating a big pet store with all the different products, they have created different websites/shops/fragments that focus on a specific area, like JustCages, JustFishTanks, etc.
