The findings of the present study have both theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical perspective, the study presents a new model that integrates simplicity and the PAD model as vital starting points for understanding WOM intentions after the first impressions of a mobile app. Prior studies have linked satisfaction to WOM intentions (Calvo-Porral et al., 2017, Lee and Jaafar, 2011, Mishra et al., 2016, Pham and Ahammad, 2017, Popp and Woratschek, 2017, San-Martin et al., 2015), however, the sources of satisfaction can significantly differ for different products and service offering. In the context of mobile apps, the present study showed that satisfaction could be jointly explained by simplicity, ease of use and the PAD model. Lee et al. (2015) showed that mobile phone ease of use explained 26.3% variance in satisfaction, while Miniero et al. (2014) showed that the PAD model explained 33% variance in satisfaction. However, the proposed model in this study explained 64.5% variance in satisfaction, thus emphasizing the need for considering the direct influence of simplicity on user satisfaction while also combining the influences of ease of use and the PAD model. This, in turn, will provide a good means of understanding WOM intentions and possibly other post-adoption behaviours (e.g. continued use intentions and user loyalty) that are a direct consequence of user satisfaction (Calvo-Porral et al., 2017, Miniero et al., 2014, Pham and Ahammad, 2017, Popp and Woratschek, 2017). Additionally, prior studies have acknowledged the importance of simplicity in system design (e.g. Choi and Lee, 2012, Eytam et al., 2017, Lee et al., 2015), however, the consequences of simplicity have been sparingly examined. In particular, these researchers have mostly focused on the direct positive influence of simplicity on ease of use (Lee et al., 2015), satisfaction (Choi & Lee, 2012) and product choice (Eytam et al., 2017). However, the present study has shown that beyond ease of use and satisfaction, simplicity can have a significant direct positive influence on WOM intentions, thus extending the current knowledge base on the consequences of design simplicity.