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The Laws of SimplicityAugust 2006
- Author:
- John Maeda
Publisher:
- The MIT Press
ISBN:978-0-262-13472-9
Published:01 August 2006
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The Laws of Simplicity
2006
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Abstract
Offering ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology, and design, this insightful book provides guidelines for needing less and actually getting more.
Cited By
Sarkar A Should Computers Be Easy To Use? Questioning the Doctrine of Simplicity in User Interface Design Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (1-10)
Taddei E, Sassanelli C, Rosa P and Terzi S (2022). Circular supply chains in the era of industry 4.0, Computers and Industrial Engineering, 170:C, Online publication date: 1-Aug-2022.
Shieh M, Tsai J, Yang C and Hsu F Learning Effectiveness Evaluation of Lesson Plan on Streamline in Model Design Course Digital Human Modeling and Applications in Health, Safety, Ergonomics and Risk Management. AI, Product and Service, (332-347)
Verkijika S (2020). Assessing the Role of Simplicity in the Continuous Use of Mobile Apps, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 32:4, (26-42), Online publication date: 1-Oct-2020.
Santhana Kumar P, Bechinie M and Tscheligi M How to Improve the Interaction Design of NFC Payment Terminals? Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2019, (55-68)
Verkijika S and De Wet L (2019). Understanding word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions of mobile app users, Telematics and Informatics, 41:C, (218-228), Online publication date: 1-Aug-2019.
Iandoli L, Piantedosi L, Salado A, Zollo G and Caldarelli G (2018). Elegance as Complexity Reduction in Systems Design, Complexity, 2018, Online publication date: 1-Jan-2018.
Subramaniam A and Barthet M Mood Visualiser Proceedings of the 12th International Audio Mostly Conference on Augmented and Participatory Sound and Music Experiences, (1-8)
Correia N and Tanaka A AVUI Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (1093-1104)
Rodrigues J, Lessa J, Gregório M, Ramos C and Cardoso P An Initial Framework for a Museum Application for Senior Citizens Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion, (414-421)
Yalçin M, Elmqvist N and Bederson B Cognitive Stages in Visual Data Exploration Proceedings of the Sixth Workshop on Beyond Time and Errors on Novel Evaluation Methods for Visualization, (86-95)
Khatri A, Shastri D, Tsiamyrtzis P, Uyanik I, Akleman E and Pavlidis I Effects of Simple Personalized Goals on the Usage of a Physical Activity App Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (2249-2256)
Hayashi E, Posada J, Pereira R and Baranauskas M Exploring principles for affectibility in the design of mobile applications Proceedings of the 14th Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (1-10)
Haimes P, Baba T and Medley S Mobile map applications and the democratisation of hazard information SIGGRAPH Asia 2015 Mobile Graphics and Interactive Applications, (1-4)
Qian Z and Chen Y (2015). Communication and exchange between information visualization and industrial design, Communication Design Quarterly, 3:3, (40-48), Online publication date: 16-Jun-2015.
Fogli D and Guida G (2015). A practical approach to the assessment of quality in use of corporate web sites, Journal of Systems and Software, 99:C, (52-65), Online publication date: 1-Jan-2015.
Cermak-Sassenrath D and Møllenbach E Teaching to tinker Proceedings of the 8th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Fun, Fast, Foundational, (789-792)
Kanso A and Monette D Foundations for long-term collaborative research Proceedings of the 2014 international workshop on Long-term industrial collaboration on software engineering, (43-48)
Blaise J and Dudek I Can simplicity help? Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Knowledge Technologies and Data-driven Business, (1-8)
Fogli D and Guida G Assessing Corporate Web Sites Revised Selected Papers of the ICWE 2013 International Workshops on Current Trends in Web Engineering - Volume 8295, (92-103)
Dasgupta S From surveys to collaborative art Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, (28-35)
- Dais A, Nikolaidou M and Anagnostopoulos D OpenSocialGov Proceedings of the Second international conference on Electronic government and the information systems perspective, (173-183)
Maiocchi M and Pillan M Designing formal attributes and user experience in public services Proceedings of the 2011 Conference on Designing Pleasurable Products and Interfaces, (1-8)
Uğur S, Mangiarotti R, Bordegoni M, Carulli M, Wensveen S and Duncker I An experimental research project Proceedings of the 2011 Conference on Designing Pleasurable Products and Interfaces, (1-8)
- Muñoz P, Giner P and Pelechano V Refining interaction designs through simplicity Proceedings of the First international joint conference on Ambient intelligence, (31-40)
Schleicher D, Jones P and Kachur O (2010). Bodystorming as embodied designing, Interactions, 17:6, (47-51), Online publication date: 1-Nov-2010.
- de Santana V and Baranauskas M Bringing users of a digital divide context to website evaluation using WELFIT Proceedings of the IX Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (31-40)
- Muñoz P, Giner P and Gil M Designing context-aware interactions for task-based applications Proceedings of the 10th international conference on Current trends in web engineering, (463-473)
Janlert L and Stolterman E (2008). Complex interaction, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 17:2, (1-32), Online publication date: 1-May-2010.
Church L and Whitten A Generative usability Proceedings of the 2009 workshop on New security paradigms workshop, (51-58)
Berger A, Kürsten J and Eibl M Visual String of Reformulation Proceedings of the Symposium on Human Interface 2009 on Human Interface and the Management of Information. Information and Interaction. Part II: Held as part of HCI International 2009, (239-248)
Lockton D, Harrison D, Holley T and Stanton N Influencing interaction Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Persuasive Technology, (1-8)
Kim H and Lee W Designing unobtrusive interfaces with minimal presence CHI '09 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (3673-3678)
Blythe M and Cairns P Critical methods and user generated content Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (1467-1476)
Loregian M Undo for mobile phones Proceedings of the 5th Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction: building bridges, (274-282)
Masuhr J, Klompmaker F, Reimann C and Nebe K Designing context-aware in-car information systems Proceedings of the 5th Annual International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking, and Services, (1-8)
Jacob R, Girouard A, Hirshfield L, Horn M, Shaer O, Solovey E and Zigelbaum J Reality-based interaction Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (201-210)
Bonanni L, Parkes A and Ishii H Future craft CHI '08 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (2553-2564)
Mathew A and Taylor J Chi'08 alt.chi / auralscapes CHI '08 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (2533-2542)
Sandner U, Resatsch F, Nepper P, Leimeister J and Krcmar H News-on-the-go Proceedings of the 9th international conference on Human computer interaction with mobile devices and services, (361-363)
Marcus A (2007). Am I pushing your buttons?, interactions, 14:5, (44-45), Online publication date: 1-Sep-2007.
- Ling C, Lopez M and Xing J Validating information complexity questionnaires using travel web sites Proceedings of the 12th international conference on Human-computer interaction: interaction design and usability, (901-910)
Wirth N Modula-2 and Oberon Proceedings of the third ACM SIGPLAN conference on History of programming languages, (3-1-3-10)
Chang A, Gouldstone J, Zigelbaum J and Ishii H Simplicity in interaction design Proceedings of the 1st international conference on Tangible and embedded interaction, (135-138)
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Contributors
John Maeda
MIT Media Lab
Index Terms
The Laws of Simplicity
Applied computing
Arts and humanities
Architecture (buildings)
Computer-aided design
Physical sciences and engineering
Engineering
Computer-aided design
Computing methodologies
Artificial intelligence
Computer vision
Image and video acquisition
3D imaging
Computer graphics
Animation
Graphics systems and interfaces
Software and its engineering
Software notations and tools
Development frameworks and environments
Integrated and visual development environments
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Reviews
Christopher Fox
John Maeda is a renowned graphic artist and MIT professor who is a principle investigator in a long-term project at the MIT Media Lab studying simplicity and its application in communication, healthcare, and play. This book is the first in a series intended to disseminate the findings of Maeda and others about simplicity. This small volume is hardbound in dark blue with bright lemon-yellow endpapers. The main text is 100 pages composed of ten chapters (one for each of ten laws) and an epilogue. Each chapter has an opening graphic representing a law. There is also a very short list of references (none about simplicity), a list of ten laws and three keys, and a two-page index. I dwell on the design of the book because it is by far its best feature. The most surprising thing about the text is how little it has to say about simplicity. Most chapters relate personal vignettes, recount well-known facts, or present standard principles in graphic design, often with no essential connection to simplicity. These discussions flow from the laws stated in each chapter through a loose association of ideas that do little to illuminate the main concept of the book. The “laws” themselves usually mention simplicity, but are often trite (Law 9: Some things can never be made simple) or unintelligible (Law 6: What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral). The laws are not proposed as distillations from thoughtful consideration of what others have said about simplicity, from philosophical arguments about concepts, or from experiment. They seem to be aphorisms capturing some aspect of the author’s attitudes about life, graphic design, teaching, and so forth. Surprisingly, the sizable literature about simplicity and complexity is never alluded to. Perhaps this explains why fundamental and crucial distinctions among uses of the word “simplicity” to mean elegance, parsimony, or ease of use are so thoroughly confused, why fundamental questions about simplicity are never posed, and why, in the end, the discussion does not advance our understanding of the nature of simplicity at all. All design disciplines have basic principles in common (for example, simpler designs are better), so one might expect that an investigation of simplicity in graphic design and business would have far-reaching consequences for computer scientists interested in software design and human-computer interaction design. But if this volume is any indication, graphic designers have far more to learn about simplicity from computer scientists (and even more from philosophers) than the other way around. Online Computing Reviews Service
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