The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)

The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)
by John Maeda

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Book Summary Information

Author: John Maeda
Edition: Hardcover
Published: 2006-08-21
ISBN: 0262134721
Number of pages: 127
Publisher: The MIT Press

Book Reviews of The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)

Book Review: Less is More
Summary: 4 Stars

The ten laws are:

1. REDUCE - The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction
2. ORGANIZE - Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.
3. TIME - Savings in time feel like simplicity.
4. LEARN - Knowledge makes everything simpler.
5. DIFFERENCES - Simplicity and complexity need each other.
6. CONTEXT - What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral.
7. EMOTION - More emotions are better than less.
8. TRUST - In Simplicity we trust.
9. FAILURE - Some things can never be made simple.
10. THE ONE - Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

There's a profound statement hidden on page 70: "While great art makes you wonder, great design makes things clear." So well put. The author is a graphic designer, but I think this thought applies to product design, and even process design.

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Summary of The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)

Received an Honorable Mention in the Communication and Cultural Studies category of the 2005 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc.

Finally, we are learning that simplicity equals sanity. We're rebelling against technology that's too complicated, DVD players with too many menus, and software accompanied by 75-megabyte "read me" manuals. The iPod's clean gadgetry has made simplicity hip. But sometimes we find ourselves caught up in the simplicity paradox: we want something that's simple and easy to use, but also does all the complex things we might ever want it to do. In The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda offers ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology, and design--guidelines for needing less and actually getting more.

Maeda--a professor in MIT's Media Lab and a world-renowned graphic designer--explores the question of how we can redefine the notion of "improved" so that it doesn't always mean something more, something added on.

Maeda's first law of simplicity is "Reduce." It's not necessarily beneficial to add technology features just because we can. And the features that we do have must be organized (Law 2) in a sensible hierarchy so users aren't distracted by features and functions they don't need. But simplicity is not less just for the sake of less. Skip ahead to Law 9: "Failure: Accept the fact that some things can never be made simple." Maeda's concise guide to simplicity in the digital age shows us how this idea can be a cornerstone of organizations and their products--how it can drive both business and technology. We can learn to simplify without sacrificing comfort and meaning, and we can achieve the balance described in Law 10. This law, which Maeda calls "The One," tells us: "Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful."

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