title: The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)
author:  John Maeda 
description: 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. <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: * * *
  
    * _Contents_
    * _simplicity= sanity_
    * _TEN LAWS_
    * _THREE KEYS_
    * _W H O M I S T H I S B O O K F O R ?_
    * _H O W - T O U S E T H I S B O O K_
    * _A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S_
    * _Law 1 Reduce_
    * _Law 2 Organize_
    * _Law 3 Time_
    * _Law 4 Learn_
    * _Law 5 Differences_
    * _Law 6 Context_
    * _Law 7 Emotion_
    * _Law 8 Trust_
    * _Law 9 Failure_
    * _Law 10 The One_
    * _Key 1 Away_
    * _Key 2 Open_
    * _Key 3 Power_
    * _Life_
    * _B O O K S_
    * _I N D E X_
    * _Y O U ’ R E S T I L L H E R E ?_
  
  **SI M PL I CI T Y**
  
  DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS, LIFE
  
  ![](Images/image00079.jpeg)
  
  **John Maeda**
  
   _“Maeda is the Master of Simplicity.”_
  
  —Andrea Ragnetti board of management, royal philips electronics
  
  simplicity = sanity
  
  **Technology has made our lives more full, yet at the same time we’ve become
  uncomfortably “full.”**
  
  I watched the process whereby my daughters gleefully got their first email
  accounts. It began as a tiny drop—emails sent among themselves. 