Again, on the topic of simplicity: despite the power of Views, I find it too cumbersome for my clients and so, about a year ago, began building a module that provides some of the basic features of views with a more accessible interface. As with workflows, in my experience 90% of the time clients just want the basics-- a listing of news articles, a staff directory, a calendar of events, that sort of thing. Another bugaboo of mine has been how a node loses context once you click through a listing; for instance, you go to the News section and "News" is highlighted in the menu, but when you click on the headline to go to the node the menu resets and you've lost your way. The module I've been using uses some trickery with the menu system and session variables to address this.
To summarize your average set up (the way I envision it), using "News" as an example:
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Create page "News"
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In edit mode, you find a fieldset called "Attach content". This is a radio button list of node types (the types available are configurable).
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Select a node type, and a basic list of configurable options is displayed: date range, which available fields to display, category (taxonomy), pager limit, whether to include an RSS link, etc.
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When the page is saved, the content is displayed as a listing (or a JQuery calendar, or whatever you like-- it's all themable). An RSS feed is created (if desired). A block is also automatically created as an optional mini-display, to be used in a homepage sidebar or whatever. The block is configurable in the same way (fields to display, # of items, etc) via Site building > Blocks. Also, the node type is now contextually attached to the page, so when you click through to view a news article, the menu reassures you that you are still in the news section.
There is a lot it doesn't do, but simplicity is the point, here. I'm not just thinking about my clients, either-- I am ecstatic if I only have to wrestle with Views when its extra features are called for (which is very occasionally). And (dare I say) my "views" load up faster.
Thoughts? Is this something others are interested in?