I am tired of all the “simplest [Application Type] of the world”. I wrote about it before. A simple application is not useful if it is incomplete.
Would Excel be so successful if it was limited to editing a grid?
On the other hand, people like the feeling of simplicity and despise being overwhelmed by too many features.
Which one should you choose? Simplicity (and you may use users for lacking features) or Completeness (and you may lose users for being too complex)?
Stop thinking that one excludes the other!
1. Give your users the option.
Like http://trello.com does:
Or like GoalsTribe does:
2. Progressively present your users with new features
Like StackOverflow does for example:
3. Qualify your users and show features depending on their types
Like Odesk does:
You have many ways to hide features and provide simplicity in a complete application.
Please stop calling your laziness ”simplicity”.