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| | Location: Home » Architecture » Reference » The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) | October 12, 2008 |
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| The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) | 
 enlarge | Author: John Maeda
Publisher: The MIT Press
Category: Book
List Price: $21.00
Buy New: $12.85
You Save: $8.15 (39%)
Buy New/Used from $10.29
Avg. Customer Rating:  (43 reviews)
Sales Rank: 4317
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 127
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.7
ISBN: 0262134721
Dewey Decimal Number: 650.1
EAN: 9780262134729
ASIN: 0262134721
Publication Date: August 21, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A book you must read before starting the process of designing the controls May 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
Not just for designers May 12, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
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.
The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) May 9, 2008
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!
 Not applied and not structured enough May 8, 2008
Meada set the limit to 100 pages, and I cherish authors who don't waste my time, but I expected a book about how to apply more "simplicity thinking" in my life and work. Laws of Simplicty contains a lot of nuggets, but in no order or structure; design principles, tributes to Maeda's mentors, thoughts about design and products, and small anecdotes.
The design principles of simplicity presented are:
- Reduce and make design specific, as said best by Antoine De Saint-Exupery:
"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
- Organize information visually to reduce clutter - "squint when evaluating a design".
- Use people's background knowledge to accelerate the learning curve
- Make the wait of services more pleasant if the wait can't be made shorter
- Usable and simple are nice, but playful and beautiful are as important
Read the book in you want to think about the above, but not if you expect it to give you any answers.
A pleasant surprise April 3, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was predisposed to dislike this book. The only (self-identifying) MIT alumnus I've ever met who WASN'T a self-important blow-hard is my brother-in-law; the rest have reinforced the stereotype. But Maeda actually uses his (AMPLE) sense of self-importance as a motivator for this book.
First thought on hearing of the book: "Simplicity? It'd better be a SHORT book!" It is. Points earned.
Second thought, on looking up Maeda on the web: "Boy, he really thinks he's GOD'S GIFT to graphics programming!" In the book's intro, he actually apologizes for all the dancing baloney users have had to put up with, thanks (in small PART, not entirely) to his efforts. Nice move, sir.
The chapters on principles are engaging, well-explained, and were immediately applicable to some of my larger work challenges. Can't say all those things about many of the technical process or "how to think about stuff" books I've read...
In the end, I bought copies of this book for my entire product team, in the hopes that it would inform their thinking throughout our development cycle.
Well worth reading, your prior experiences with self-important MIT blowhards notwithstanding. :)
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