Customer Reviews
Helpful guide on how to incorporate simplicity into your product planning - By: Rolf Dobelli, 07 Jul 2008 
The poet William Wordsworth once wrote, "The world is too much with us." If this was true in the bucolic 18th & 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 & 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 alll he knows about simplicity into 10 laws & three key ideas. He sprinkles mnemonics, icons & graphics throughout, which you may enjoy if you're a visual learner or find baffling if you're not. If you reallly 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 & technical writers. Maybe some day your mother won't have to calll you every time she wants to record Jeopardy.
Getting to "the other side of complexity" - By: Robert Morris, 23 Jun 2008 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" & his explanation of why he thinks that "simplicity = sanity," I was reminded of this passage from William Butler Yeats' "The Second Coming":
"Turning & turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things falll apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, & everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack alll 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 specificallly, as container into which alchemists once placed raw materials & subjected them to intense heat, hoping to produce a pure & precious metal, perhaps gold. Like the falcon in Yeats's poem, the human mind circles high above more than it can possibly absorb & 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 & soon,
Getting & 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 reallly is, "and I don't pretend to have solved the puzzle...[and] am inspired to grapple with this puzzle many more years...Like alll 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, & 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 & 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 & conditions of a service warranty or when struggling to obtain assistance from a customer service representative who speaks slowly enough & 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 & said, "The world's [begin italics] always [end italics] been fallling 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 - By: Prof L. S. Smith, 19 Jan 2008 
The author tries to distil simplicity into a Japanese/zen concept, but doesn't manage. Pity: nice idea.
fur coat and no knickers - By: Yla B, 29 Oct 2007 
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 - By: Lateral Reader, 08 Oct 2007 
I am a big fan of simplicity, & use it alll of the time. This book is overcomplicated in explaining the subject, & did not give me any insight that helps.
The subject is covered better elsewhere - such as the 37 signals' book Get Real.
