Review

I really love the concept of simplicity and I think about it often. This book was full of promise for me, but it didn’t deliver. The early laws are great, and there’s some real actionable advice there. I found the quality of thinking and clarity tailed off. I lost faith in the author at some point in the second half.

There are better design books out there. ‘The design of everyday things’ is a much better place to start.

Key Takeaways

The 20% that gave me 80% of the value.

• The 10 Laws of simplicity:
  1. Reduce: the simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction
     • Shrink: make it small, this lowers expectations. Make it appear delicate and fragile (lightness and thinness). Smaller, lesser, humbler. Move value is delivered than originally expected.
       • Example: iPod fits in your hand, mirrored back made it seem smaller
     • Hide: hide the complexity. Hide it until you need it. It’s a form of deception. Complexity becomes a switch the owner can flip.
       • Example: the clam shell phone, the menu bar.
     • Embody: perception of quality becomes important after shrinking and hiding. Less needs to seem like more. Embody quality. You can invest in quality through craftsmanship or marketing (real or perceived).
  2. Organize: organization makes a system of many appear fewer
     • Two questions of decluttering: What to hide? Where to put it?
       • To have a stable system though you need to ask… What goes with what?
     • Organization makes a system of many appear fewer IF the number of groups is significantly less than the number of items.
     • Working with fewer makes life easier.
     • What goes with what?
       • Sort: find the natural groupings.
       • Label: Assign a name
       • Integrate: groups that appear significantly like each other
       • Prioritize: collect highest priority items into a single set so they receive the most attention
         • Use the Pareto principle and focus on the vital few
  3. Time: savings in time feel like simplicity
     • Speed is often attributed to the simplicity of the system
  4. Learn: knowledge makes everything simpler
     • Relate, translate, surprise
       • Relate: leverage the human instinct to relate
       • Translate: the relationship into a tangible object or service
       • Surprise: add a little surprise at the end (makes the time feel worthwhile)
  5. Differences: simplicity and complexity need each other
  6. Context: what lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral
     • There’s a tradeoff between being completely lost in the unknown and completely found in the familiar
       • How directed can I stand to feel?
       • How directionless can I afford to be?
     • Complexity implies the feeling of being lost, simplicity implies the feeling of being found.
       • Transitions from simple to complex are key
  7. Emotion: more emotions are better than less
     • Determine just the right kind of more (add back emotion)
     • Be sensitive to how you’re feeling.
     • Form follows function Feeling follows form.
     • Great art makes you wonder. Great design makes things clear.
       • Art a reason to live, is tempered with design (clarity of message)
     • Achieving clarity isn’t difficult, achieving comfort is harder
  8. Trust: in simplicity we trust
     • The more a system knows about you the less you should have to think
     • The more you know about the system, the more control you can exact
       • How much do you need to know about a system?
         • Effort is required to learn and master
       • How much does the system know about you?
         • Trust must be offered to the system (and constantly repaid by the system)
  9. Failure: some things can never be made simple
  10. The one: simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful

• Three Keys
  • Away: more appears like less by simply moving it far, far away
  • Open: openness simplifies complexity
  • Power: use less, gain more