Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.

2 Organize

Simplicity is about the unexpected pleasure derived from what is likely to be insignificant and would otherwise go unnoticed.

What is simplicity about? 

Remember, “Technology and life only become complex if you let it be so.”

The best designers in the world all squint when they look at something. They squint to see the forest from the trees-to find the right balance. Squint at the world. You will see more, by seeing less.

Squint at the world

Knowledge makes everything simpler.

4 Learn

Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

10 The One

Savings in time feel like simplicity.

John Maeda is a graphic designer and computer scientist. His book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262134721/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0262134721&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20">The Laws of Simplicity</a>, proposes ten laws for simplifying complex systems in business and life.Think of it as simplicity 101.

Subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful

The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.

1 Reduce

What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral.

6 Context

When in doubt, just remove. But be careful of what you remove. … When it is possible to reduce a system’s functionality without significant penalty, true simplification is realized.

The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through reduction

Simplicity and complexity need each other.

5 Differences

In addition to the ten Laws, Maeda offers three Keys to achieving simplicity in the technology domain. 1 AWAY More appears like less by simply moving it far, far away. 2 OPEN Openness simplifies complexity. 3 POWER Use less, gain more.

Three Keys

When forced to wait, life seems unnecessarily complex. Savings in time feel like simplicity. … A shot from the doctor hurts less when it happens quickly, and even less when we know that the shot will save our lives.

Time Savings

This is true for any object, no matter how difficult. The problem with taking time to learn a task is that you often feel you are wasting time, a violation of the third Law. We are well aware of the dive-in-head-first approach-“I don’t need the instructions, let me just do it.” But in fact this method often takes longer than following the directions in the manual.

Knowledge makes everything simpler

Some things can never he made simple.

9 Failure

More emotions are better than less.

7 Emotion

Technology has made our lives more full, yet at the same time we’ve become uncomfortably “full.”

Simplicity = Sanity

These 10 laws about how to reach simplicity and exploit it for better work and life are really enlightening.

John Maeda's book, The Laws of Simplicity, proposes ten laws for simplifying complex systems in business and life. Think of it as simplicity 101.

8

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PHILIP APPLEMAN

KATHERINE MORGAN SCHAFLER

8. Build self-esteem, not ego