Laws of Simplicity

Tiny Bubbles

My journalistic mentor is Jack Driscoll, former Editor-in-Chief of the Boston Globe. He recently asked me a simple question, "How does a reader respond to your blog?" It then occured to me in my efforts to design a simplified layout, I had made it entirely unclear how to post a comment as I maybe law1();?>-ed too much. The answer is to click on the tiny bubble below. There. With this little bit of knowledge, I have satisfied law4();?> and simplification is now realized. Phew.

Posted by John Maeda

Crossing the Chasm

Much has been said about Moore's Technology Adoption Curve and the difficulty of getting consumers to "cross the chasm" to achieve success in the marketplace. Today I was wondering whether the simplest solution to help consumers make the jump across the chasm is to just focus on ensuring that your product embodies simplicity. This may seem like a simplistic answer, but it does help to explain why products with simple operation, simple concept, simple marketing message do manage to succeed. Perhaps the more question is what happens after the early and late majority adopts the product? Consumers bore of the simplicity of the device and desire more. Complexity is sprinkled over the product to enhance the law7();?>-al attachment to spice up the relationship. Does simplicity pull them in initially for the first date, and then complexity reels them in further to make for a steamy relationship? Some stay wed to their devices/objects forever; others go looking for a new fling. law5();?> is a good thing.

Posted by John Maeda

I'm Slip-ping

The SLIP (Sort Label Integrate Prioritize) tool I've provided here is something I've begun to use daily online instead of using the little Post-it notes that litter my desk. When implementing this system I thought of doing it with more exotic animations and advanced UI-techniques, which indeed I did some experimentation with. However in the end I put aside ideas of elegant interface designs for what simply worked. This exercise made me realize how law9();?> can occur in either design or execution. In the end we have to choose which failure in attempting to achieve simplicity that we're willing to stomach. The bottle of antiacid next to my computer helps to temper the reality of finding the right compromise.

SLIP has been moved here: http://lawsofsimplicity.com/slip-tool-resurrected on Dec 28, 2010

Posted by John Maeda

How to SLIP

I made a quick screencast of how to use the SLIP tool. It is useful for organizing the various junk inside your head when you are confused. For me, this is often. The e-mail feature is useful as you can e-mail the list to a friend so that they can do the work for you by virtue of away.

SLIP has been moved here: http://lawsofsimplicity.com/slip-tool-resurrected on Dec 28, 2010

Posted by John Maeda

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Tiny Bubbles

Crossing the Chasm

I'm Slip-ping

How to SLIP