Matt Lees at Shut Up & Sit Down made this very insightful comment:

“Good UI is the answer to a problem. But then, the question always is, does that problem need to exist.”

It’s often said in design that less is more. I think this quote is a great reminder that there are ways in which we can trick ourselves into believing that our games are more elegant, more minimal, than is the case. When a design is at a point where we’re getting concerned about having a sufficiently clear UI, the answer might not be in the interface. The answer might be in the underlying systems that are creating a need for UI in the first instance.