Don’t try to be clever

Don’t design to prove you’re clever. Design to make the user think she is.

— Jeffrey Zeldman, The Year in Design

You should read the whole article, but this last point really stuck because I often see people frustrated with themselves when something goes wrong on a site or app they’re using, as if the error was somehow their fault or caused by some personal shortcoming. Nope — it’s our fault! Sometimes it’s specifically my fault.

The clever solution isn’t always the best.