The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) (Hardcover)

by John Maeda (Author) "I watched the process whereby my daughters gleefully got their first email accounts..." (more)
Key Phrases: Media Lab, Aunt Mabel

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this breezy treatise, graphic designer and computer scientist Maeda proposes ten laws for simplifying complex systems in business and life-but mostly in product design. Maeda's upbeat explanations usefully break down the power of less-fewer features, fewer buttons and fewer distractions-while providing practical strategies for harnessing that power, such as SHE: "Shrink, Hide, and Embody." The first three laws, based on principles of reduction, organization and efficiency, form the foundation for increasingly complex and self-referential concepts like the importance of context and the potential for failure in simplification (by the end of the book, Maeda is chiding himself for using too many acronyms). Combined with trust and emotional engagement (laws 7 and 8), Maeda demonstrates how complex systems can become downright lovable: Maeda recalls "the Tamagocchi craze of the late 1990s... showed that anyone could fall in love with a small electronic keychain," drawing a corollary to the almighty iPod (an iconic example referred to throughout). Emphasizing the delicate balance-work involved in simplifying the complex, Maeda admits the process isn't easy, and that his ten laws don't necessarily provide all the answers-in numerous places, he directs readers to the web site where his theories continue to develop. Despite that, this slim book feels complete in itself; not only will it stimulate ideas, it will keep readers thumbing back for a second and third look at Maeda's deceptively simple advice.
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Review
"FINALLY, a book about simplicity that is not too academic to read.... At the book's heart is the Shinto belief in animism, the spirit in all objects. Nicholas Negroponte, one of Maeda's mentors, once told him to become a lightbulb, not a laser beam. This he has done; all this and more."
— Susan Salter Reynolds, The LA Times

"I planned to skim/sample John Maeda's book, then decide to endorse it—or not. I quickly found myself mesmerized—and thence the only issue was deciding what were the strongest words I could muster in support of The Laws of Simplicity. The book is important; and Maeda has made an absurdly complex subject—simplicity—approachable and usable. Bravo! I hope the people who design the products I'll acquire in the next ten years take this book to heart."
—Tom Peters

"If brevity is the soul of wit, simplicity is the soul of design. John Maeda uses the concept of simplicity to get at the nature of human thought and perception while drawing out tangible applications for business, technology, and life in general. The Laws of Simplicity is thoroughly optimistic, entertaining, and erudite, just as you would expect from Maeda. It is also the most compelling 100 pages of design writing I have read this year."
—Rob Forbes, Founder, Design Within Reach

"John Maeda's new book, The Laws of Simplicity, is simply terrific. It's exactly 100 pages, the illustrations are brilliant and the 10 Laws of Simplicity (plus Three Keys) are a canon to design one's entire life, much less specific products, services or business models. The subtitle is: Design, Technology, Business, Life."
— Bruce Nussbaum, BusinessWeek's blog "NussbaumOnDesign"

"Keep it simple, Stupid" is an old piece of advice, so much so that it's often abbreviated as the "KISS principle." But it's advice that's often ignored, and MIT Professor John Maeda aims to change that. . . . Designers and marketers will find Maeda's book both interesting and useful...."
— New York Post

"Maeda's Laws and Keys have an obvious practical application in everyday running of a busy life (and desktop); they also have the potential to translate into a productive methodology for any craft or design practice.... A very humble, enlightened and caring human, John's written a little bible."
— Liz Farrelly, Crafts Magazine

"Maeda's upbeat explanations usefully break down the power of less-fewer features, fewer buttons and fewer distractions-while providing practical strategies for harnessing that power. . . . Emphasizing the delicate balance-work involved in simplifying the complex, Maeda admits the process isn't easy, and that his ten laws don't necessarily provide all the answers-in numerous places, he directs readers to the web site where his theories continue to develop. Despite that, this slim book feels complete in itself; not only will it stimulate ideas, it will keep readers thumbing back for a second and third look at Maeda's deceptively simple advice."
— Publishers Weekly

"Our lives and our businesses are faster and broader than ever. As such, they are also more complex and difficult to manage, for both customers and managers. Therefore, achieving simplicity in both our products and our organizations will be crucial for securing market share. No one has seen this more clearly than John Maeda, the Master of Simplicity. The Laws of Simplicity is a clear and incisive guide for making simplicity the paramount feature of our products; it's also a road map for constructing a more meaningful world."
—Andrea Ragnetti, Board of Management, Royal Philips Electronics

"Technology and life seem to be getting more complicated, yet two great success stories, Google and the iPod, both provide the antidote of simplicity. In The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda uses humble prose to provide an accessible guide, business and life, observing the principle: 'Simplicity equals sanity.'"
— David Smith, The Observer

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 127 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (August 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262134721
• ISBN-13: 978-0262134729
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,388 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

132 of 147 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Simplicity complicated, September 2, 2006

By	Antonio Vives (Great Falls, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The goal of the book is extremely worthwhile: to promote simplicity. It tries to do so in a small book, about 100 pages in small sized pages. Unfortunately it fails, it does not use it own lessons and presents a complicated description of "Simplicity". In order to simplify, it (ab)uses acronyms that do not elicit the thoughts that are intended. For instance, take SHE (Simplify, Hide, Embody). Using the word SHE is hard to turn your mind to "Simplify, Hide, Embody". Then there is BRAIN (Basics, Repeat, Avoid, Inspire, Never) and SLIP (Sort, Label, Integrate, Prioritize). Simple? To present the ideas, Maeda uses a random collection of recollections, of anecdotes, of circumstantial evidence, organized around ten laws, to illustrate the points it wants to make. As you read, you can find another anecdote from your own life, another experience that can contradict his conclusion. Not all is negative, there are some gems that make the reading worthwhile. For instance, law 10, or "the one": "Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful". Imagine if presentations in meetings, conversations or written reports were to keep this law, how more productive our lives would be. This is my simplified review!

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty book, unfinished thoughts --- too much simplicity can be just as bad., November 9, 2006

By	Amrit Tiwana "www.bus.iastate.edu/tiwana" (Decatur, Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I agree with the other reviewer: The dust jacket of this book is a very creative design. The content however is disappointing. The ideas (read: bullet point-level detail) that Maeda begins to talk about show promise. However, he never describes them in sufficient detail for the reader to know what was going on inside his head. The goal of the book is worthy: To boil down simplicity to a few key law-like generalizations. But the book itself does not demonstrate that. Instead, the book is a good example of how too much simplicity can also be undesirable. Perhaps the author was fixated on producing a short 100 page book. Perhaps he assumed too much prior knowledge of his typical readers (or perhaps assumed familiarity with his papers)? The book reminds me of the quote by some famous person (Einstien, I think): Make things just as simple as they need to be, but not simpler." This pretty book is an example of the truth in that statement. I hope that a future book by this author will leave where this one abruptly left off. If you must buy it, borrow it from your library first.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great idea but Maeda's style may not be what you're expecting., August 3, 2007

By	djac "beantownboy" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

I found the laws themselves to be thought provoking; my mind immediately engaged the task of relating the laws to my own work. While the laws themselves are a delicious reduction the text itself is just the opposite. With such a dogmatic title strapped to a compact book I expected Maeda to directly confront on the topic of simplicity in a brief yet concrete manner (similar to how William Strunk hits the target dead on with The Elements of Style). Instead Maeda only lightly probes "simplicity" with lots of personal anecdotes, abstract thoughts and the iPod (for most examples). The book is more of a meditation on the topic than a "law" book.

I highly recommend reviewing the laws at John Maeda's site: [...] and consider doing your own meditations. Read the book only if you're interested in viewing the cogs turning in the mind of Maeda without them producing the condensed sweetness you might expect in such a compact tome.

(The hardcover book itself is nicely designed, printed and bound for those of you interested in good quality book and a favorable price.)