The issue here is not about simplicity vs. complexity or flashy vs. minimalist; but rather placing the focus on what the user actually needs.
The best way to accomplish this is through a user experienced based design. To this effect, a group of users that roughly represent the expected user base is interviewed. This way the information/user experience architects of the new site/application gets a feel for what the current processes are that surrounds the users. From this standpoint one gets a better feel what the users might need.
With the user interviews being completed, the architects can then create wireframes of the application that, after various iterations, will closely be in alignment with what the user actually wants. Once these fundamental designs and layouts are finalized, visual designer can then add the flashiness to the application with some guidance (reality checks) provided by the technical folks. This is an approach that I've found to work on numerous projects that I've worked on.
Yes, it's a bit more time consuming and potentially more expensive but what better way to ensure that the end-product is actually what the user wants than driving out the design from the users themselves.
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And how does this differ from other companies? (Google included)
The issue here is not about simplicity vs. complexity or flashy vs. minimalist; but rather placing the focus on what the user actually needs. The best way to accomplish this is through a user experienced based design. To this effect, a group of users that roughly represent the expected user base is interviewed. This way the information/user experience architects of the new site/application gets a feel for what the current processes are that surrounds the users. From this standpoint one gets a better feel what the users might need. With the user interviews being completed, the architects can then create wireframes of the application that, after various iterations, will closely be in alignment with what the user actually wants. Once these fundamental designs and layouts are finalized, visual designer can then add the flashiness to the application with some guidance (reality checks) provided by the technical folks. This is an approach that I've found to work on numerous projects that I've worked on. Yes, it's a bit more time consuming and potentially more expensive but what better way to ensure that the end-product is actually what the user wants than driving out the design from the users themselves.