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｜Trimming

This reductive design method involves iteratively removing unnecessary elements from a design. It provides a structured approach to reducing complexity and helps produce a more elegant, streamlined final product, process, or organization.

Session Length: 60+ minutes Group Size: 4+ people Prep Time: 10-20+ minutes

WHEN

Use Trimming in the mid or late point of a design activity, as the initial design begins to emerge. It is particularly helpful any time we encounter “too much” of something – steps in a process, options to choose from, documents, PowerPoint slides, requirements for a system, etc.

WHY

This process can:

• Bring clarity to an overly complex or cluttered system with too many features or components, unwieldy user experience, or lots of steps.
• Streamline a system that exceeds design thresholds (size, weight, power, cost, etc.) and help accelerate operations or procedures.
• Remove unnecessary friction or complexities.
• Increase the team’s mental agility as they explore ways to perform functions in the absense of traditional mechanisms.
• Demonstrate whether risky ideas (such as removing essential components from a design) may be worth pursuing
• Satisfy objectives of weight, size, cost, etc.
• Increase maintainability, usability, reliability, etc.

HOW

STEP 1: List all the pieces included in the current design.

STEP 2: Define a Stop Strategy. Three common Stop Strategies are:

• Threshold strategy – Stop trimming when the system has satisfied some threshold
  (size, weight, power, etc.).
• Time-box strategy – Stop trimming when a specified amount of time has passed.
• Thorough strategy – Check every single component.

STEP 3: Remove a piece from the list. Common strategies include:

• Obviously extraneous – Remove components that are clearly unnecessary.
• Threshold busters – Remove components that are most responsible for the system
  exceeding thresholds (e.g., remove the heaviest component if the system exceeds the
  weight threshold).
• Speedy trim – Remove any component that can be removed quickly, minimizing the
  amount of time spent on trimming.
• Acceleration trim – Remove any component whose removal will yield a substantially
  shorter project timeline.
• Random – Randomly remove a component.
• Obviously necessary – Remove a component that appears essential to the system.

STEP 4: Test the system to determine if it works without a piece. If so, discard that piece. If not,
replace the piece.

STEP 5: Repeat the process until the Stop Strategy applies.

REFERENCES

Trimming Briefing Slides
Trimming Workbook
Three Experiments In Doing Less (examples)

Trimming