The Laws of Simplicity
Do you ever think to yourself--"Why is everything so complicated?" Taxes, health care, finance, and even shopping, there are so many different options, so many rules, and so much small print.
Technology is often seen as complicated, but it is the most simple design and features that work for us. 
Anyone seen an iPod? We want easy to use, slick to look at and complex enough to impress us-- all without reading instructions. Dr. John Maeda of MIT's Media Lab has written "The Laws of Simplicity" as a philosophical and practical guide to the balance between the complex and the simple in technology, design and business.
Laws of Simplicity
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Mary O'Donnell of AARP's Broadcast team sat down with Dr. John Maeda of MIT's Media Lab, to talk a little about his new book "The Laws of Simplicity".
If we take the laws and keys that Maeda applies to technology, into our own lives, we can add meaning without additional clutter. Reduce, organize, and learn—these laws are about being mindful and really looking at what we want and need. Law 7, Emotion—reminds us that our humanity is not just always with us, but it is an essential and often glossed over strength.
Law 10, or as Maeda calls "The One," "Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful." And Failure, Law 9, is not a bad thing. It is realizing that some things just can’t be simple.
About the Author
Graphic designer, visual artist, and computer scientist John Maeda is the founder of the SIMPLICITY Consortium at the MIT Media Lab, where he is E. Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor of Media Arts and Sciences. His work has been exhibited in Tokyo, New York, London, and Paris and is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He is the recipient of many awards, including the Smithsonian Institution National Design Award in the United States, the Raymond Loewy Foundation Prize in Germany, and the Mainichi Design Prize in Japan. He is the author of Design by Numbers.
The Laws of Simplicity
By John Maeda
MIT Press / Publication date: 29 September 2006
Price: $20.00 / 107 pages / ISBN: 0-262-13472-1
Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life series
mitpress.mit.edu
For news about MIT Press titles and authors, visit The MITPressLog
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