The Paradox of More in Less: Enhancing Community Experience by Subtraction

Imagine walking into a room filled with clutter—every corner packed, leaving you overwhelmed and unsure where to look first.

Can you feel the tension?

Now, picture a curated space, where every piece holds meaning and purpose.

Feel free to exhale.

When it comes to building community, less is more. It might seem counterintuitive at first, but simplicity is the key to creating a more engaging, valuable, and connected community.

The Pitfall of Overcrowding

Community leaders often fall into the trap of believing that more features, events, and initiatives equals more value for their members.

I call this the ice cream sundae problem. More, and more, and more until...it's too much.

Abundance leads to the dilution of quality and a sense of disconnection among members.

You end up with a cluttered experience. A place where the essence of community—the very reason members joined in the first place—gets lost in the noise.

By failing to prioritize, we risk overwhelming our members. The only way out of the mess is, well, out of the community.

Simplify to Amplify

Here's a simple workflow on how to address this challenge.

Audit and Evaluate: Begin by taking a comprehensive look at all the activities, features, and elements your community offers. Just like decluttering a closet, assess what's truly adding value and what's merely taking up space.

This list should include everything. From newsletters to channels to courses to discounts to events to swag. Everything.

Rank and Remove: Implement a ranking system for your initiatives based on their impact and value to your members. This critical lens helps identify the bottom dwellers—those elements that fail to contribute meaningfully to the community's core experience.

You can rank by your perspective, or you can ask a few key members to do the same. I personally prefer the "closest to customer value" scale, which amplifies those resources over less impactful options.

Embrace the Core: Focus on what's left—the core elements that genuinely enhance community engagement and satisfaction. This isn't about having less for the sake of minimalism but about making every aspect of your community more impactful and meaningful.

Even if you have 20 points of value, it's likely that most members only really interface with 3-5 at any given time.

The Natural Flow of Engagement

This is the holy grail of design. An intuitive, natural flow from A to B, B to C, and so on.

The idea is to design a community experience that makes sense. Once that's equally valuable to existing members and easily navigable for newcomers.

The process is really simply guiding members gently along a path where the value and connections unfold organically.

To help you out, think of annual cycles inherent in sports, the seasons, and even parts of your work. These are all elements you can build alongside (and draft off of them) or mimic with your design.

Beyond Subtraction: Thoughtful Addition

The final step – as you continue to evolve - isn't to look outward. Instead innovate from within, based on the solid foundation you've created.

It's tempting to constantly seek new initiatives in the hope they'll be the silver bullet for community engagement. Fight this urge.

With a streamlined and focused approach, you can more effectively identify opportunities that truly align with your community's values and needs, ensuring any addition contributes positively to the overall experience.

The Power of Intentional Community Building

A reductionist approach to planning plus an expansionist perspective on experience puts you in the top tier of community builders.

Embracing "less is more" isn't about taking away from your members. It's about refining and elevating their experience, ensuring every element serves a purpose and enriches the community tapestry.

By focusing on what truly matters, you can create a vibe that encourages members to stay, engage, and grow together for the long haul.

Build on!