The ‘Quanto Basta’ User Experience Philosophy

Michelangelo Zampogna
2 min readMay 10

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Have you ever tried Italian cooking? It’s a cuisine that’s all about simplicity, using just a few high-quality ingredients to create dishes that are both healthy and delicious.

In Italian cooking, there’s an expression called “Quanto Basta,” which means “how much is enough.” It’s the perfect metaphor for user experience design, where simplicity and engagement are key.

Imagine you’re in a restaurant, and you order a simple pasta dish. The chef brings out a bowl of perfectly cooked pasta with a simple tomato sauce. It’s delicious, but it’s also what you were expecting.

But what if the chef added an unexpected twist? What if they added a sprinkle of truffle oil or a touch of chili flakes? Suddenly, the dish becomes something special, something that surprises and delights you.

That’s the power of “Quanto Basta” — it’s the perfect amount, not too much, not too little. And in user experience design, it’s about finding the perfect balance of simplicity and surprise.

But, here’s the unexpected twist — what if the chef brought out a completely different dish, something you weren’t expecting at all? Maybe a dessert instead of a pasta dish? At first, you might be confused or even disappointed, but then you take a bite, and it’s absolutely delicious. The unexpected surprise makes it even better than what you were originally expecting.

In user experience design, we can create the same sense of surprise and delight by adding unexpected features or functionalities. It’s about going beyond what users expect and creating a digital product that truly wows them.

…So let’s embrace the “Quanto Basta” philosophy of Italian cooking and use it as inspiration for our user experience design. By creating products that are both simple and surprising, we can create a sense of confidence and delight that keeps users engaged and coming back for more.

#QuantoBasta #UserExperienceDesign #ItalianCooking #SurpriseAndDelight #Simplicity #Elegance #DigitalProducts #UXDesign #Balance #Harmony #Engagement

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Michelangelo Zampogna

Product Design Leader and visionary Digital Transformation Specialist originally from Rome, and currently based in London.