Simplicity is more complicated than complexity

Posted by Shaun Abrahamson on Sunday, 13 July 2008

To paraphrase “I am sorry this product is so hard to use, I did not have time to simplify it”. Its not just about design, but also business and life.

John Maeda has published a beautiful treatise on simplicity, in 100 clear concise pages.

Calls for simplicity abound. From the “elevator pitch” that should be all that is required to describe a great business, to the idea that great advertising ideas should fit into one sentence. From remote control designs to services such as Zipcar. We are increasingly being asked to invest the time to simplify and make things easier to use.

One of the longer term goals is to understand the impact of simplicity on business. I would hesitate to guess that is it profound – beginning with simplicity of purpose that aids communication and ultimately execution and evaluation. I’m looking forward to the results.

Achieving simplicity is more complicated than complexity.

[image from John Maeda's "The Laws of Simplicity"]

Posted in: Creative Process, Product Development | Tagged: design, simplicity | No Comments