I love driving simulation games. Developing the skill and putting in the practice required appeals to me. One mistake, and you are off the track. The risk and reward are the keys to what makes it fun. About a decade ago, a driving simulation game came out which added a new feature. The driver, at any point while racing, can hit a button and go back in time 10 seconds. So if you made a big mistake, you can take it back and try again, no more waiting for the next lap or even the next race.
With this new feature, the game developers were trying to grow the audience by making the game more accessible to new players, reducing the frustration for new players who might crash more often. But, as with all such efficiency optimizations, it unbalanced the game. No need to get good at driving the car, you could just hit the undo button and try again. It removed the unexpected from play.
In my experience as a designer, the unexpected can lead to new thinking. I often watch designers killing the unexpected in design software applications as they work by hitting the undo button. Rather than creating multiple variations of an idea, the undo button focuses them on creating one or maybe two design options. The problem with not having variations is that it is very hard to compare ideas; even bad variations give you clues as to what the right answer might be. But the undo button robs everyone of seeing these variations, and if the one version that is produced is not the right one, then you are back to square one. No space for discussion or ideation; there is nothing to look at.
The undo button kills playfulness: no drawing outside of the lines, or appreciating the unexpected. Control and efficiency are king. Penicillin, Velcro, Post-it notes, Kevlar are all examples of accidents and experiments which went wrong but produced something that we use every day. The undo button works for minor edits, but when you are trying to make something new, it constricts creativity.
Draw with a pen, write your first couple of drafts by hand. Allow yourself to explore and see what's possible for as long as possible before you hit the Undo button.
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