Books The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - Getting to "the other side of complexity"

Almost immediately after I began to read this book, I was reminded of two quotations, the first from Oliver Wendell Holmes: "I do not care a fig for simplicity this side of complexity but I would give my life for the other side of complexity." Also from Albert Einstein: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." Further along into John Maeda's discussion of each of the ten "laws" and his explanation of why he thinks that "simplicity = sanity," I was reminded of this passage from William Butler Yeats' "The Second Coming":

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

Holmes was right, acknowledging how difficult it is to proceed through complexity to simplicity. In fact, I view complexity in that context as a crucible. More specifically, as container into which alchemists once placed raw materials and subjected them to intense heat, hoping to produce a pure and precious metal, perhaps gold. Like the falcon in Yeats's poem, the human mind circles high above more than it can possibly absorb and process, then make sense of. This is what William Wordsworth suggests in "The World Is Too Much with Us":

"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"

And this is why Maeda believes that "simplicity = sanity." In a world that seems to become more complex each day, his on-going journey of discovery he realized how complex a topic simplicity really is, "and I don't pretend to have solved the puzzle...[and] am inspired to grapple with this puzzle many more years...Like all man-made `laws' [mine] do not exist in the absolute sense - to break them is no sin. However you may find them useful in your own search for simplicity (and sanity) in design, technology, business, and life."

It would be a disservice to Maeda as well as to those who read this review to list the ten "Laws." They are best revealed in context, within the frame-of-reference he creates for each. The same is true of the three "Keys to achieving simplicity in the technology domain" with which Maeda concludes his narrative. "Rarely do I have answers, but instead I have a lot of questions just like you." I am amazed by how much material he provides within only 100 pages. Additional resources can be obtained (at no cost) by visiting lawsofsimplicity.com.

It is worth noting that when Maeda "set out with youthful zeal to attack the simplicity question, [he] felt that complexity was destroying our world and had to be stopped!" Presumably others have experienced the same frustrations I have encountered when struggling to understand the directions provided in an operations manual or terms and conditions of a service warranty or when struggling to obtain assistance from a customer service representative who speaks slowly enough and clearly enough to be understood. Why does it have to be so (bleeping) complicated? After speaking at a conference, Maeda was approached by a 73-year old artist who took him aside and said, "The world's [begin italics] always [end italics] been falling apart. So relax." Maeda suggests that his reader take the same advice "and try to LEAN BACK while you read this book, if you can."

John Maeda may not get you to the "other side of complexity" but he can help you to preserve your sanity meanwhile. If that isn't a value-added benefit, I don't know what one is.

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Rating: - A book you must read before starting the process of designing the controls
I am a self-confessed computer geek; I have programmed for pay in four languages, taught programming in twelve different languages and have been the instructor for nearly every course in our undergraduate computer science major. Yet, I am constantly frustrated by the electronic devices that I encounter. The remote for my cable box has a terrifying number of buttons, and occasionally some must be pressed in sequence. My small video recorder has only a few buttons, which means that operations almost always require a sequence to be pressed.
In the first case, the attempt to make everything simple has introduced the increased complexity of a large number of buttons and in the second case the attempt to make things simpler has introduced the complexity of sequential actions. Neither one works for me and I am hardly unique.
Maeda puts forward a program designed to introduce true simplicity into the world of human-technological interactions. He starts with what he calls Shrink, Hide, Embody (SHE) and describes 10 laws of simplicity. They are:

*) Reduce - the simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction
*) Organize - organization makes a system of many appear fewer
*) Time - savings in time feel like simplicity
*) Learn - knowledge makes everything simpler
*) Differences - simplicity and complexity need each other
*) Context - what lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral
*) Emotion - more emotions are better than less
*) Trust - in simplicity we trust
*) Failure - some things can never be made simple
*) The One - simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful

As the power of technology increases, the human ability to comprehend it decreases. With this reduced comprehension there is a need for simpler and more effective control mechanisms and the ways to do that is the theme of this book. The author is very effective in demonstrating ways to reduce the complexity to the point where it can be managed.
Like most people in information technology (IT) my life his hectic and cluttered. I applied some of the ideas in this book to reduce the clutter in my office by about 30% and will start on the work area of my house this weekend after the commencement exercises. The next time I teach computer interface design; this book will be a required supplement and the students will be required to read it before they move into the area of building a complex user interface.

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Rating: - Not just for designers
I had an opportunity to hear John Maeda speak recently. Here are a few things John said that I really like: "Humans want 'more' (food, storage, stuff). So 'more' is an important marketing concept. But while humans want more, design is about less. Yahoo design is about more. Google design is about less."

I ordered "The Laws of Simplicity" even before his speech was done. It is a short book and I read it in one sitting this weekend. II really enjoyed it. My favorite is Law ten: "Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful."

I am not a designer. Instead I write and speak about marketing. While John writes about simplicity as it relates to design, I am convinced that the same things apply to marketing and PR. For example, marketers love to use big gobbledygook words when they write - things like "mission critical" and "next generation". But simplicity of language is what sells. So I am recommending Laws of Simplicity for marketers too.

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Rating: - The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)
John Maeda is a genius and this book is simple but very profound. A must have for any graphic designer - but you can apply these principles in your everyday life as well!