The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) | 
|  | | | Title: | The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) | | Author: | John Maeda | | Publisher: | The MIT Press | | Type: | Book / Hardcover | | Publication Date: | 21 August, 2006 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0262134721 / 9780262134729 | | List Price: | $21.00 | | You Save: | $6.72 | | Amazon Price: | $14.28 | |
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Product Description
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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Customer Reviews:
• Good Solid Material 23 June, 2008
The best thing about this book is that it stayed SIMPLE.
It is a quick read, and a good reference source for anyone in the field of design.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3ARA5VZIGK4H8
• Manage Your Expectations... 04 July, 2008
If you manage your expectations, this little book can be pleasant, even delightful. But if your interest is for more serious, robust exploration, then look elsewhere.
The title is a bit misleading. The term "Laws" suggest principles that can be universally applied and have been rigorously tested. This book is really more of a set of loosely connected essays about design approaches. The insights are often good, and perhaps helpful, but "laws" they are not. A title like "Reflections on Simplicity in Design" would have been more accurate, and I would have awarded a fourth star if it had been titled more appropriately.
This is really more of a short philosophy book about design, rather than a treatise offering Newtonian-scale laws. But that criticism now made, can this little book be inspiring? Sure.
Is the book overwrought and under-thought? A little.
Does it offer deep exploration? Not really.
Is "Simplicity" a good introduction to the notion of simplicity in design? Yes, up to a point.
One reviewer lamented that "Simplicity" has about the same depth as a dinner conversation. I agree, although that's no reason to think that level of depth is pointless. If it inspires and offers fresh perspectives on old problems, then that can have it's own value. And that's what "Simplicity" offers, but not much more.
Just don't pin your hopes on this offering fundamental design principles; instead use it as a loose collection of design approaches (supported only by brief anecdotes). I'd give it 3.5 starts if I could, the half star being awarded for brevity (but not laws or simplicity itself).
- Reviewed by customer ID: A351WENZOMA2DA
• Helpful Guide On How To Incorporate Simplicity Into Your Product Planning 07 July, 2008
The poet William Wordsworth once wrote, "The world is too much with us." If this was true in the bucolic 18th and 19th centuries when Wordsworth lived, it is even more true today, when every gadget comes with an incomprehensible 100-page instruction manual. Thus, simplifying people's lives with your products and services is a surefire path to business success; it will endear you to your customers forever. In this aphoristic little book, graphic designer John Maeda has distilled all he knows about simplicity into 10 laws and three key ideas. He sprinkles mnemonics, icons and graphics throughout, which you may enjoy if you're a visual learner or find baffling if you're not. If you really like the icons, you can download them from the Web site Maeda put together to complement the book. getAbstract recommends this work particularly to marketing people, product designers and technical writers. Maybe some day your mother won't have to call you every time she wants to record Jeopardy.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1NATT3PN24QWY
• Less Is More 09 July, 2008
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.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AZGQIRZY0IL24
• Disappointing 28 October, 2008
The reviews convinced me to buy this one.
After reading it, I think it's highly overrated. It has 10 "rules", each is true and important, but none of them is new. The problem is that the rest of book, explaining each of the rules, contributes very little.
I'm sorry, but I expect a book to be either insightful, or fun (preferably both). This book just didn't deliver.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AI94LWWI5FCE5
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