Every extra control asks someone to spend attention.
Complexity belongs behind the surface
I have learned this most clearly when working on screens that started small and slowly collected exceptions.
Each new toggle felt reasonable on its own, but the combined surface became a quiet negotiation with the user.
The job of a design system is not to hide capability, but to give each decision a clear place and a consistent shape.
That means naming the primary action, moving secondary actions out of the way, and resisting the urge to expose every possible state at once.
Simple surfaces are not empty surfaces.
They are the result of making a lot of decisions before asking the user to make one.
When I remove an option, I try to ask whether I am removing useful power or just removing visual noise.
That distinction matters because good simplicity should make the next step easier, not make the product less capable.
Leave room for focus
I still get this wrong sometimes.
The useful habit is to come back to the screen later, look at it without the context of implementation, and notice where my own attention starts to scatter.
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