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| The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) | 
 enlarge | Author: J Maeda
Publisher: MIT Press
Category: Book
List Price: £12.95
Buy New: £8.04
You Save: £4.91 (38%)
New (43) Used (9) from £6.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 43524
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 4, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW - ***Delivery usually * 4 - 5 * working days - From Aphrohead of SOUTHPORT, Lancs, UK *** . Priority Airmail used Worldwide on International orders. Thanks from all at Aphrohead.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Helpful guide on how to incorporate simplicity into your product planning July 7, 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.
Getting to "the other side of complexity" June 23, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Almost immediately after I began to read this book, I was reminded of two quotations, the first from Oliver Wendell Holmes: "I do not care a fig for simplicity this side of complexity but I would give my life for the other side of complexity." Also from Albert Einstein: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." Further along into John Maeda's discussion of each of the ten "Laws" and his explanation of why he thinks that "simplicity = sanity," I was reminded of this passage from William Butler Yeats' "The Second Coming":
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
Holmes was right, acknowledging how difficult it is to proceed through complexity to simplicity. In fact, I view complexity in that context as a crucible. More specifically, as container into which alchemists once placed raw materials and subjected them to intense heat, hoping to produce a pure and precious metal, perhaps gold. Like the falcon in Yeats's poem, the human mind circles high above more than it can possibly absorb and process, then make sense of. This is what William Wordsworth suggests in "The World Is Too Much with Us":
"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"
And this is why Maeda believes that "simplicity = sanity." In a world that seems to become more complex each day, during his on-going journey of discovery he realized how complex a topic simplicity really is, "and I don't pretend to have solved the puzzle...[and] am inspired to grapple with this puzzle many more years...Like all man-made `laws' [mine] do not exist in the absolute sense - to break them is no sin. However you may find them useful in your own search for simplicity (and sanity) in design, technology, business, and life."
It would be a disservice to Maeda as well as to those who read this review to list the ten "Laws." They are best revealed in context, within the frame-of-reference he creates for each. The same is true of the three "Keys to achieving simplicity in the technology domain" with which Maeda concludes his narrative. "Rarely do I have answers, but instead I have a lot of questions just like you." I am amazed by how much material he provides within only 100 pages. Additional resources can be obtained (at no cost) by visiting lawsofsimplicity.com.
It is worth noting that when Maeda "set out with youthful zeal to attack the simplicity question, [he] felt that complexity was destroying our world and had to be stopped!" Presumably others have experienced the same frustrations I have encountered when struggling to understand the directions provided in an operations manual or terms and conditions of a service warranty or when struggling to obtain assistance from a customer service representative who speaks slowly enough and clearly enough to be understood. Why does it have to be so (bleeping) complicated? After speaking at a conference, Maeda was approached by a 73-year old artist who took him aside and said, "The world's [begin italics] always [end italics] been falling apart. So relax." Maeda suggests that his reader take the same advice "and try to LEAN BACK while you read this book, if you can."
John Maeda may not get you to the "other side of complexity" but he can help you to preserve your sanity meanwhile. If that isn't a value-added benefit, I don't know what one is.
 Nearly useful book January 19, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The author tries to distil simplicity into a Japanese/zen concept, but doesn't manage. Pity: nice idea.
 fur coat and no knickers October 29, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
this is such a beautifully presented little book - which is the only reason it got 3 stars - i will treasure it for its physical attributes for sure - BUT - it is extremely thin on content
 An overcomplicated look at simplicity October 8, 2007
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I am a big fan of simplicity, and use it all of the time. This book is overcomplicated in explaining the subject, and did not give me any insight that helps.
The subject is covered better elsewhere - such as the 37 signals' book Get Real.
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