Think the "Checklist Manifesto" addresses your creep and clutter as basically a very bad design. In the book they went over several medical checklist iterations before they struck something sensible that improved conditions and saved lives. Most importantly, they changed culture in places to where a nurse was allowed to tell a doctor "no" without fear of reprisals, and re-framed checklist items to pay attention to a time window for administering antibiotics, not just whether a patient received them. The checklist that's helpful should fit on a laminated index card and it should list critical things. But, it's hard to distill the essence of something and most checklists end up as a loose thought vomit on pages.
