Core77

If you didn't spend the weekend reading the D.O. comments on Women and Design, then perhaps you caught up on another design web conflagration going on this week (admittedly not so pointed): Donald Norman's "Simplicity Is Highly Overrated" piece.

How to begin? Well, you'll probably want to start with Norman's own post-preface at the start of the piece:

Comment: This is one of the most misunderstood of all my columns. So after you finish, read the "Addendum" before you Slashdot or otherwise flame me. Then, if you still disagree, go right ahead and object. I don't mind criticism. I don't mind being wrong--that's how I learn. But it is painful to be misunderstood.

Then read piece itself, of course. It's actually kinda slight (one commenter on goodexperience writes that "It almost seems like a tongue in cheek article"), but Joshua Kaufman's Technorati links here suggest that the real fun is over at the neighbors' houses. Start with Joel Spolsky here, then jump right back to Joshua's reflections here. Mark Hurst gets the best comments-to-post ratio here, (natch), and Dan Saffer from the AP chimes in here. Many seem to agree that Luke Wroblewski knocks it out of the park with this, but it's not a response to Norman, and this is getting pretty link-silly already.

So just start with Luke's Friday post on the subject right here; you'll be in good hands.