The first commercially available cellphone used to weigh 0.8 kilo and had 21 buttons on it’s bulky body which were used for only two purposes – to make and receive calls. But that was back in the simple 80′s. Cellphones today, are not only delightfully compact but also jam-packed with features.

You can use your cellphone to send SMS, e-mail, surf the internet, capture photographs, play music, share files using Bluetooth, infrared or MMS and play games. And that’s not all, it, obviously, also makes calls. These features have enabled cellphones to replace consumer electronic devices like alarm clocks, watches, cameras, mp3 players, radio, portable game consoles, etc. An average tech savvy soul may not find these versatile devices complex but people with low exposure to technology may feel intimidated while using them.

The complexity in this case is a direct result of the large number of features which forces the creators to classify and conceal them in layers and sub-layers of menus and drop downs. The solution, although elegant from an engineering perspective, may frustrate the average user. The placement is rarely readily intuitive or within immediate reach. For example, changing the ring-tone of any cellphone available in the market requires 4 to 8 navigation or clicks. In fact, the lower numbers in the range are achieved at the cost of adding a direct shortcut which means either an extra button or on-screen link, which further crowds the already overwhelming heap of functionalities.

Low-end phones serve lesser clutter but that may or may not help them become significantly simpler. Though some mobile-phone designers have challenged complexity with a return to minimalism by drastically reducing the number of features offered. The obvious debate that this approach raises is how less is simple enough.  There is no specific line which divides superfluous functionalities from the bare necessities. Should messaging be included? Is a display required? It may not seem obvious at a cursory glance but even the most basic functionality of calling or receiving phone calls on a mobile phone employs several supporting functionalities like Numerical Keypad, Fast Dial, Contacts List,  Caller ID & Display, Call Logs, Speed Dial, Ringing Tone, etc to name a few. Deciding which to keep and which to axe for the sake of simplicity is not as simple as it may seem.