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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"this is a must-read for all creative practitioners. The book is beautiful - complete with iconic graphics and perfect packaging - and unlike self-help tomes that simultaneously bore readers with fictitious `true life' tales while attempting to shame them into action, Maeda's gentle honesty about the difficulties he faces in dealing with the same issues as the rest of us is refreshing and approachable. .... While his previous books attempt to explain what he does, this book tells us how he thinks." -- Design Week, 26.4.07 (profile, mentioning book, by Liz Farrelly)
calling the book "a sublimely perfect tome, in the formal sense. Its dimensions, typography, paper stock, binding and eye-catching cover all demonstrate well-considered design decisions, guaranteeing appeal to the aesthetic sensibility in all creative people. Pick it up, because its lessons can and will help anyone making decisions and making things."
-- Crafts Magazine, May 2007 (review by Liz Farrelly)
calling the book "a sublimely perfect tome, in the formal sense. Its dimensions, typography, paper stock, binding and eye-catching cover all demonstrate well-considered design decisions, guaranteeing appeal to the aesthetic sensibility in all creative people. Pick it up, because its lessons can and will help anyone making decisions and making things."
-- Crafts Magazine, May 2007 (review by Liz Farrelly)
About the Author
John Maeda is President of Rhode Island School of Design and former Associate Director of the MIT Media Lab. In 2008 Esquire magazine named Maeda one of the 75 most influential people of the twenty-first century. He is the author of The Laws of Simplicity (MIT Press, 2006) and other books.
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First Sentence
I watched the process whereby my daughters gleefully got their first email accounts. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
I watched the process whereby my daughters gleefully got their first email accounts. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This was a very informative read, especially for someone like me, who thinks no deeper than 'how cute' the ipod looks and 'how many tasks' my funky mobile phone can do! Yet, oblivious to the majority of us, a lot of thought and accuracy go into technology and technological gadgets. This book presents us with 10 laws to seeing, doing and thinking things simple. Most references are to devices we use everyday without too much thought. John Maeda writes very well and very clearly, he has the stamp of an MIT professor! Yet what I probably enjoyed the most was his sometimes abstract way of writing which made me feel like I was watching an abstract piece of art that gave some space to my personal interpretation. A good book I recomend to anyone who wants to explore something 'different'!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
A nice to read book from John Maeda - as he mentioned on a short flight. Simplified approach to simplicity is nice and well organized thoughtful approach. Consciseness is a plus.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By yla
Format:Hardcover
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
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3.4 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking for all technologists
As engineers, technologists have a habit of looking through the lense of the "function". Maeda encourages more than a sideways look through the lense of the "form"... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jay C
1.0 out of 5 stars
Little insight, conceited, poorly edited
I bought this book for a designer friend, but returned it rather than giving it to her after reading a little. The analysis is weak. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Tim Ruffles
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful"
This 100 pages book itself is meticulously designed, the ten laws of simplicity aptly presented, Maeda, an MIT professor, argues that the issue of simplicity versus complexity... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Getaneh Agegn Alemu
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting, but short,and sometimes a bit vague for me
This is a short and interesting read at around 100 pages. John Maeda has an easy to understand writing style, and does not clutter up the book with unnecessary examples, or dense... Read more
Published 20 months ago by K. Prygodzicz
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not so simple after all...
John Maeda devoted 6 years of his research at MIT to the study of simplicity in technology and design, this book (along with his blog) organise his thoughts on the subject. Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2009 by B. Simmonds
4.0 out of 5 stars
My assumptions of this book were completely wrong...
I had assumed it would give me detailed guidance on how to simplify the designs I undertake and maybe even my life in general. Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2008 by D. Nelson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Helpful guide on how to incorporate simplicity into your product...
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,... Read more
Published on 7 July 2008 by Rolf Dobelli
5.0 out of 5 stars
Getting to "the other side of complexity"
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... Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2008 by Robert Morris
2.0 out of 5 stars
Nearly useful book
The author tries to distil simplicity into a Japanese/zen concept, but doesn't manage. Pity: nice idea.
Published on 19 Jan 2008 by Prof L. S. Smith
1.0 out of 5 stars
An overcomplicated look at simplicity
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. Read more
Published on 8 Oct 2007 by Lateral Reader
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