Explaining the Unexplainable: Making Complex Products Easy to Understand
Innovative products often have complex features that can overwhelm audiences. A cutting-edge software platform or a scientific device has value that can be lost if people do not grasp how it helps them. The challenge is to explain the "unexplainable" by making intricate, technical products clear and approachable. This article explores why clarity is critical and how to communicate these products in a simple, effective way.
The High Stakes of Clarity
A product fails if people don’t understand what it does. No matter how advanced the technology is, the value disappears when the message gets lost. Confused customers won’t buy, and confused teams won’t back the idea. This isn’t just a marketing issue. It’s a business risk.
A clear message respects your audience’s time and proves you understand the problem they’re trying to solve. When the focus stays on complexity, you lose connection. When it’s easy to understand, people pay attention.
Know Your Audience and Their Context
Before you explain anything complex, you need to understand who you're speaking to. Clarity depends on knowing your audience’s goals, gaps, and level of knowledge. Some people will want details about how your algorithm works, while others only care if the UI is friendly. That difference shapes everything from the tone you use to the depth of explanation you go into.
Your explanation should meet people where they are. That means knowing what they already understand and where they’re likely to get lost. Are they technical specialists or senior decision-makers? Are they familiar with the problem you solve or are you introducing something entirely new? These questions help you decide where to begin, what to emphasise, and what to leave out.
Speak in the language your audience already uses. Avoid internal terms or labels that only make sense inside your team. If your customers describe the problem in plain terms, reflect that. The goal is to create a message that sounds familiar and feels immediately relevant.
One of the most useful ways to do this is to listen. Talk to customers, read feedback, and review support tickets or case studies. Take note of the words people use and the parts of your product they find confusing. These signals show you what needs explaining and what already makes sense.
Your message should always be built around two key questions:
What problem is the customer trying to solve?
How does your product solve that problem in a way they will value?
When you stay focused on these two questions, the explanation becomes more useful. It shifts the attention away from how complex the product is and toward what the audience actually needs. That’s where understanding begins.
Use Plain Language and Clean Structure
Complex products are difficult enough on their own, and the explanation shouldn’t make it more confusing. Plain language helps people focus on the value of what you’re offering, not on decoding what you're trying to say.
This doesn’t mean you have to dilute the message or strip away important detail. It means delivering that detail in a way that feels straightforward. Choose words people already understand. Say "use" instead of "utilise" and "connect" instead of "interface." Long, technical phrasing adds friction and makes ideas feel harder than they are. If a technical term matters, introduce it clearly once and keep the definition practical. People don’t remember complexity. They remember clarity.
Writing as if you're speaking to one person makes the message easier to follow. It removes distance and forces precision. You’re not writing for a panel of experts, you’re guiding someone through a new idea so they can make sense of it and take action.
Structure carries just as much weight as tone. A good structure helps people stay with you. Break your content into focused sections with clear headings. Use short paragraphs and group related ideas together. If a paragraph contains more than one idea, split it. Clarity depends on pacing.
For longer texts, make the page easy to scan. Readers don’t process information in order. They jump between points. Use headings to anchor them. Use line breaks to give the content space. A wall of text pushes people away. A clean layout pulls them in.
Always lead with what matters most. Don’t build up to the point, say it early. Tell your audience what the product does and what problem it solves and once they have context, the supporting detail becomes useful instead of overwhelming.
When you combine plain language with clear structure, you create space for your idea to be understood. You earn the right to hold attention. And for complex products, that’s the first step in getting people to care.
Emphasise Benefits Over Features
A common mistake is leading with features and the spec sheet becomes the message. But people don’t make decisions based on how something works. They care about what it does for them.
To explain a complex product clearly, focus on the benefit. What changes for the user? What problem disappears? The outcome earns attention. The technical detail supports it, but it shouldn't lead.
Always ask, “So what?” for each feature. If your product offers automated backup, the benefit is knowing your work is safe. If it includes end-to-end encryption, the benefit is confidence that your data stays private. Features become valuable when they’re tied to outcomes people care about.
Positioning is about clarity. It connects the product to the problem it solves. Saying a device runs on a 5nm chip means little to most people but saying it opens apps faster and holds a charge longer makes the value obvious.
Apple’s early iPod messaging is a clear example. Technically, it was a 5GB MP3 player. But they sold it as “1,000 songs in your pocket.” The value was framed in terms people understood and cared about. That made the product feel simple, useful, and worth paying attention to.
When you explain your own product, lead with scenarios and results. Let people picture how it fits into their work or life. Benefits create clarity. And clarity drives action.
Harness Analogies and Relatable Stories
Analogies and stories are practical tools for explaining complex ideas. A well-chosen analogy links something unfamiliar to something people already understand. It gives the audience a mental shortcut and reduces the effort needed to make sense of a new concept.
Tesla once described its Autopilot feature as a co-pilot. That one line replaced a technical explanation with a familiar scenario. It made the value feel immediate and easy to grasp. A strong analogy does exactly that. It removes friction and makes the product easier to connect with.
To write a good analogy, focus on function. Ask what the product does and find a clear parallel in everyday life. The comparison should be simple. Its job is to clarify, not entertain.
Stories work in a similar way. They give your product context. A short narrative about a business avoiding a data breach is more memorable than a list of security features. It shows how the product works in the real world.
Even in technical B2B environments, stories help people understand the outcome. They create a link between the product and the person using it. When the story is relevant and real, the value becomes easier to trust.
Show, Don’t Just Tell
Words can explain, but visuals can clarify. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and a single image or demo often does more than a full paragraph. For complex products, showing how something works is always more effective than describing it.
Pairing visuals with text creates a clearer path to understanding. A flowchart can simplify a process. A system diagram can show how parts interact. If your product has a user interface, show it to set expectations. These visual cues reduce mental effort and help the audience stay focused on the message.
Demos and videos take this further. They let people see the product in motion. A short walkthrough turns abstract features into visible outcomes. This works especially well for software, where interactivity and timing matter.
Good visuals do one thing well. They focus on a single point and remove anything that distracts. A clean image supports the message. A cluttered one gets in the way.
When visuals and language work together, complex ideas feel easier to understand. That’s what makes the explanation effective. Not just accurate, but useful.
Iterate and Test Your Explanation
Once your explanation is written, don’t assume it’s done. Test it. What feels clear to you may still confuse someone else. A quick way to check is to ask someone outside your team to read it. Watch where they hesitate. Listen to the questions they ask. That’s where the friction is.
Clarity is not a one-shot process, it takes revision. Even experienced writers revisit their work to make it sharper. Sometimes a single word creates confusion. Sometimes a long paragraph hides the main idea. Simplifying doesn’t mean watering down. It means removing what isn’t helping.
Small changes make a big difference. Adjusting a heading. Breaking up a sentence. Cutting a detail that doesn’t need to be there. Each step improves the odds that someone will read, understand, and trust what you’ve written.
Clarity as a Competitive Advantage
Turning complexity into clarity isn’t a creative flourish. It’s a strategic edge. If your audience doesn’t understand what you’ve built, they won’t believe in it. When you explain clearly, you earn attention, build trust, and move people to act.
Clear communication is a sign that you know your product and respect your audience. It shows that you’ve thought beyond features and focused on what matters. The outcome. The benefit. The reason to care.
By understanding your audience, simplifying your language, focusing on outcomes, and refining the delivery, you make the complicated feel accessible. That’s what moves ideas forward. That’s what builds traction.
No product is too complex to be explained. It just needs the right perspective. The right words. And the clarity to let the value speak for itself.
So, why is clarity so critical?
To put it simply, it’s because understanding drives action. If people can’t follow what your product does, they won’t trust it, support it, or buy it. Clear communication makes the difference between interest and hesitation. It is built on knowing your audience, structuring your message cleanly, and showing benefits in relatable terms. Clarity is not an afterthought. It is a competitive advantage, one that determines whether an idea gains momentum or loses it.
Sources:
https://www.cantaloupemarketing.co.uk/blog/how-to-make-your-complex-topic-easy-to-understand/
https://techcomm.unt.edu/news/tips-using-plain-language-technical-communication.html
https://www.monkhouseandcompany.com/resources/podcast/e279-mastering-product-positioning-with-expert-insights-from-april-dunford/
https://www.involve.me/blog/how-to-clearly-communicate-complex-product-descriptions-examples-tips