Rashmi Sinha posts about How Feature Creep Ruined The Moleskine City Notebooks. I didn’t read the title of the post until after I attempted to post a comment, which at this time is throwing a database error, so…

My comment as follows:

I see your point, although I also see how a person might choose one of these products to keep a travel journal or something for the city in question, which seems to be an ideal use for this sort of product.

However -

I think the larger message here is feature creep, and the propensity of designers and product managers to assume that a product, already popular, would be even MORE popular and well-loved if it did… well.. everything.

Note that this does not mean doing everything well.

Simplicity, and excellence of a chosen set of functions, should be enough of a goal.

This has particular resonance for me at this time, since I am in the process of developing a web app with a very simple premise. It is very easy to see how the design of this nascent application of mine could get creepy. A certain well-known word processor comes to mind.

Random thoughts associated with this idea:

The iPod. Simplicity of function, but getting creepy. Games?