[peetahb]

This is true, but in my experience, the best UX people are even more excellent at figuring out what is NOT important and getting rid of it (or not investing any time in those things at all).

I believe that's what the OP implied when he stated most simple and shortest path to get there, simplifying the UX/UI is based on deduction, archetype development and enough experience/knowledge to start off with a barebones wireframe instead of a bloated mess. Loosely basing the method of delivering an effective UX on Occam's Razor, a philosophy that states if you base your decision on the path with the fewest assumptions and thereby offers the simplest explanation of the effect, that's usually the best route to take.

The most simple path is one that only relies on what's important to your goals and skips all the bloated "data" and "ideas" that would hurt the UX.