When Less is More: How Over-Engineering Can Hurt Your Software—and Your Brand
Great software is all about solving problems simply and effectively. But in the race to grow more loyal users and increase profits, many companies fall into a trap: over-engineering their products to try to upsell or cross-sell.
Over-engineering makes your user experience more complicated and often takes away from what made your product great in the first place.
Let’s look at what over-engineering is, why it happens, the problems it creates, and what we at Drawbackwards have learned by helping clients resist this urge.
The Software Bloat Trap: Losing Focus on What You Do Best
When it was released to the public in 2015, Slack began to immediately change how business teams communicated. Its simple user interface, slick design, and features focused on chat and collaboration made it a must-have tool for workplaces. Slack wasn’t trying to do everything—it was just really good at one thing.
Today, Slack is packed with features, add-ons, and integrations with third-party business applications. We’re sure many of these have been added over time with good intentions of trying to appeal to more users and help address more complex use cases. But they’ve also made Slack harder to use. What was once an easy-to-navigate tool now feels much more bloated and complicated, with features that most average users don’t want or need.
Time and time again we see revolutionary tools like LinkedIn, Spotify, Twitter, and Airbnb start out with a clear focus on a simple idea. As these companies grow, they succumb to the arms race of adding features to their products so they can keep up with competitors and chase more profits.
When will we learn that adding too many features frustrates users and undercuts what makes revolutionary software products great? Average users feel like they need a manual just to get started, and advanced users start hacking the product to remove the extra features that infuriate them.
The danger is clear: if your product tries to do too much for too many people, it risks doing nothing well for anybody. You have to truly understand your users and not just chase metrics.
The Power of Simplicity
On the other side of the spectrum are products that stay disciplined and focused on simplicity. For all its changes and enhancements over 25+ years, Google Search has famously held onto its minimalist interface—a simple search bar and clean logo. It still feels, despite the ever-increasing encroachment of ads and sponsored results, accessible and easy to use for most people.
At the same time, Google has added features like autocomplete, Knowledge Graph, and search filters. These enhancements have been thoughtful add-ons in service to its core purpose: delivering fast and relevant search results. Google has avoided cramming unrelated or unnecessary functionality into its platform, keeping the experience streamlined and effective.
Despite this discipline and focus, it’s easy to see how Google could easily slip into the temptation to change its core product in response to increasing competition. If serious competitors emerge to threaten its perch at the top of the search engine mountain, it’s not hard to imagine Google Search getting bloated in response.
Products like Google Search show the value of quarantining complexity and focusing on doing one thing exceptionally well. It’s proof that simplicity and targeted innovation can maintain loyalty and trust over time.
Burger King vs. In-N-Out: A Case Study in Fast Food Simplicity
Another great comparison comes from the fast-food industry. Burger King has spent years adding menu items to attract more customers—everything from chicken fries to mozzarella sticks. But this strategy has made its menu confusing and unfocused.
In contrast, In-N-Out has kept things simple. Its menu focuses on burgers, fries, and shakes, with a few customizable options. This minimalist approach has earned it a loyal fan base and a reputation for quality.
Burger King’s sprawling menu dilutes its brand, while In-N-Out’s simplicity strengthens its reputation. The lesson? Simplicity builds loyalty. Over-engineering—whether in a menu or software—leads to confusion and weakens your identity.
Why Over-Engineering Happens
Why do companies over-engineer their software? Usually, it starts with good intentions.
Here are the main reasons companies fall into the trap of building bloated products:
1. Pressure to Grow Profits: Companies often believe adding more features will attract new customers or encourage existing ones to spend more. Executives may push product teams to pack more functionality into a product, hoping to upsell premium versions or retain users.
2. Trying to Keep Up with the Joneses: The race to offer "the most features" can push companies to add functionality that isn’t truly needed. Instead of focusing on differentiation, they end up playing a game of feature catch-up, often without considering if the additions truly benefit their users.
3. Lack of Focus: Without a clear vision, teams may keep adding features to cover every possible use case, even if it dilutes the core offering. This "feature creep" often comes from trying to please everyone, leading to a bloated product that serves no one well.
4. Fear of Missing Out: Businesses worry that if they don’t include certain features, they’ll fall behind competitors or miss market opportunities. This fear drives rushed decisions to implement trendy or "must-have" features, even when they don’t align with the product’s primary purpose.
The Problems Over-Engineering Creates
We’ve seen over-engineered products create a wide variety of issues for our clients:
1. Overwhelmed and Frustrated Users: When a product has too many features, it can start to feel overly complicated and complex. This can lead to abandonment as users look for simpler alternatives.
2. Losing the Core Purpose: If a product tries to do everything, it risks losing the thing that made it great. Users may no longer recognize what sets it apart from competitors.
3. Harder to Maintain: More features mean more bugs and more work to keep everything running smoothly. This can strain development teams and increase costs.
4. Confusing Brand Identity: If users can’t easily explain what your product is great at, they’ll lose trust and loyalty. A scattered identity weakens your brand’s reputation.
How to Avoid Over-Engineering
Businesses can avoid this trap by learning from companies that focus on building trust with users through simplicity and clarity.
1. Focus on What You Do Best: Identify the main problem your software solves and concentrate on being the best at that. For example, Slack was great because it made team communication simple—getting away from that is risky.
2. Don’t Try to Please Everyone: Adding features for every possible user often makes your product less useful for your core audience. Stick to what your key users need most.
3. Add Features Thoughtfully: New features should make the product better without adding unnecessary complexity. Ask yourself: does this feature make the user experience easier or harder?
4. Keep It Simple: Take inspiration from In-N-Out, where simplicity has created a loyal fan base. In software, this means improving existing features rather than constantly adding new ones.
5. Listen to Feedback: Regularly ask users what they like and don’t like. If a feature isn’t working, don’t hesitate to remove it.
Dissolve Complexity and Deliver Simplicity the Drawbackwards Way
In today’s competitive marketplace, simplicity is no longer just an advantage; it’s a requirement. New features might bring in more money at first, but they can become over-engineered products that damage your brand over the long run.
By staying focused on what your product does best and keeping things simple, you can build a product and a brand that people love. The most successful companies are the ones that know their strengths, stick to them, and deliver a clear, enjoyable experience for their customers. Sometimes, less really is more.
For more than 20 years, Drawbackwards has helped clients across a full spectrum of industries create products that are simple and efficient. Get in touch and let’s talk about how we can help you dissolve complexity and deliver simplicity.