Author: John Maeda
_John Maeda_
Reading time: 22 minutes
Synopsis
The book Simplicity (2007) talks about how to make things simpler. This includes daily life, business, and especially how we design new products and technology. These summaries (Blinks) explain the main ideas from the ten rules for making things less complicated. They also tell us when making things too simple might not be a good idea.
What you will learn: Understand simplicity and make your life easier.
You have 42 new emails, four missed calls, ten notifications, and eight unread texts on your phone. Then Skype rings loudly on your tablet. You remember you also wanted to call your friend in the USA today.
Do you sometimes wish for the old days? When you only had a home phone in the hall and a mailbox outside. Back then, only these two ways could reach you.
It’s true: Technology has made life easier in some ways. But with every new device, update, and technology, life also gets more complicated. Can we escape this?
Yes, luckily, we can. We don’t just try to make things simpler; we must. This is true for people who use technology and also for those who create new products. Today, companies often sell products that are simple and easy to use.
In these summaries, you will learn:
- why your TV remote control is so small,
- why people buy simple smartphones but fancy accessories for them, and
- why it’s good to ask a chef for a recommendation.
Blink 1 – In our complex world, simple products are very valuable.
Why are Apple products so popular? They are not cheap compared to other brands. One reason is that Apple makes its devices simple. They are easy to use and have a clean design.
Our world is getting more complex. There are more technologies, ways to talk, and sources of information. Because of this, simplicity has become a wanted luxury. Simple products stand out because of it.
For example, when the iPod first came out, it was different from other MP3 players because it was simple. As technology keeps getting more complex, simple products will always be popular. So, it’s always a good idea to design products that are simple.
But how can you make something simple?
Here’s a key rule: Remove something obvious from a product, then add something useful. Think about the iPod. Other MP3 players had many buttons for every feature: power, play, pause, fast forward, and so on. But iPod designers got rid of this idea. They put all functions into one round control pad instead.
This design combined style and function. It removed extra buttons and made the device simpler. This is how they created a truly good new product.
This idea of simplicity is not just for gadgets. It also works in your personal life. If you remove unimportant things, you have more room for what truly matters. For example, if you love someone and want a better relationship, try to remove the ‘obvious’ things that make it hard. This might be small talk or arguments about jealousy. Your relationship will become simpler and more important.
Blink 2 – The easiest way to create simplicity is to remove things.
We know simplicity is good for new product design. But how do we get such a simple design? The key word is: reduce.
The first step was mentioned earlier: a product becomes simpler if you remove some of its features. The hard part is finding the right balance. You need to keep what users truly need and remove what they don’t, without losing how well the product works.
For example, the simplest remote control would only have one button: the power button. But people would not like it. TV watchers also want to change channels or volume. So, a remote needs a few key buttons. Everything else is not needed and can be removed.
You can also make a product simpler by reducing its size, not just its features. If a remote control is small, people expect it to be less complex. They are often pleased by what the small device *can* do, instead of being sad about what it *cannot* do.
There’s a third way to simplify: hide features people don’t use often. Remote controls often do this. There might be a hidden menu somewhere. It lets you change things like picture size or color. Most people never need these features and might not even find the button. But tech fans find it fast. They are happy the remote has so many options.
When you remove features, be careful. The product might look less attractive or too basic. So, you need to design it well. Even with fewer features, it should still feel high-quality to customers. This could be through a nice design or special materials.
Let’s look at the iPod again to see this. The new music player had few clear features. But it sold very well. This was mainly because of its simple, high-quality design. People saw this design as valuable, more than just its basic functions.
Blink 3 – Simple ways of learning keep people motivated.
Did you ever have a really good teacher or mentor at school or university? In their classes, you understood everything easily, and learning was fun. If yes, those teachers likely knew how to help you understand difficult ideas by yourself. They helped you make things simpler. This is because knowing more makes things easier.
Many teachers try to motivate students with rewards or punishments. But to truly help people learn, you should follow two rules:
- Always start with the simplest basics. If you confuse people with a hard start, they will get frustrated fast. Then they will not want to learn anymore.
- Include a lot of repetition. The more something is repeated, the more likely people are to remember it for a long time.
When you teach this way, people feel successful right from the start. This makes them want to keep learning. Then, when they reach harder tasks, it will be much easier for them.
It’s similar with good product design. Make sure people can use your product easily, without learning complex steps first. The first time they use it, it should feel like they already know how it works. Give users an early success with your product. This will keep them wanting to use it more.
When features become a bit harder, you can use these learning rules. Imagine you are making new computer software. Make sure new users can easily use the basic features from the start. Then, help them find the more complex ones.
Blink 4 – Good organization makes your tasks simpler.
Life is getting more complex and faster. So, it’s time to bring more simplicity back. This also applies to managing your time. To avoid feeling overwhelmed by all the choices, information, and duties, you need to organize well. Being organized helps you make things simpler.
Good organization starts with sorting your tasks. For example, write down all your tasks for next week on a paper. Then, put these tasks into different groups. These groups could be ‘Work Meetings,’ ‘Phone Calls,’ ‘Emails,’ ‘Personal Plans,’ or ‘Shopping.’ This makes things much simpler. Instead of one big pile of papers, you now have small piles of similar tasks.
Next, you should decide which tasks are most important. To have a good week, always start with the most important things. Here, you can use the Pareto Principle: 20% of your tasks will help you achieve 80% of your goals. Focus on those 20% of tasks.
Let’s say you have three reports to write this week, all with different due dates. Focus on the report that will have the biggest effect. Don’t write the one that is due first but nobody really cares about. The most important report might help you get a promotion or push forward a project you really care about. This way, you can finish one of your most important weekly tasks earlier. It will also free your mind. You will have space to focus on other things without the stress of thinking about that big task still waiting.
Blink 5 – Use your time smartly to make your life simpler.
What if your to-do list is well-organized, but too long, and you don’t have enough time? If this happens, try to make more time for yourself. A longer, more difficult task list becomes easier to handle when you have more time.
When you have more time, you feel more simplicity. That’s why ‘time’ is one of the ten rules for simplicity. You can’t make a day longer. But you can use your time more efficiently. This creates more space for your tasks.
You can also use the Pareto Principle here. Usually, you finish 80% of your tasks in 20% of your time. But when you are stressed, many people spend a lot of work hours worrying. They worry about not finishing, or they put things off. They also think about what they would rather do. To stop this, the rule is: just do it, don’t just think about it.
Another tip: use your waiting time well. We often waste a lot of time waiting. If you cannot avoid waiting, try to make it nice. This way, time will pass faster. You won’t feel like you wasted time. Instead, you can see it as time to relax. For example, if you are waiting in a long line at the post office, get a nice coffee first, call a friend, or listen to an audiobook.
Also, how stressed you feel is not about the exact minutes you spend on something. It’s about how you feel time passing. This means you can trick your mind a little. When you are doing something pleasant, put away all clocks. If you don’t see time passing, it will feel like you have more of it.
The opposite is also true. Studies show that people feel like computer software takes longer to load if they can’t see a progress bar or a timer. This makes the wait feel worse.
Blink 6 – Trusting other people makes our lives simpler.
Here’s a situation everyone probably knows: You’re at a restaurant with friends. The server comes to take your order, but you can’t decide. Everything on the menu looks too good! Most of us find this stressful and unpleasant. Wouldn’t it be simpler if someone knew exactly what you liked and chose for you?
In fact, life gets simpler when you let someone or something you trust make choices for you. For example, if you need a new book, you could spend hours searching online or in bookstores. Or, you could trust what your friends, family, or a helpful bookseller suggest. This saves you time and stress.
Of course, it’s not always easy to give up control. It’s normal to wonder if someone else will make the right choice. You might even question them and yourself. Trust comes from two main places: Either you trust someone’s skills and knowledge, or you trust that you can fix a mistake if it happens. Both ways make your life simpler.
Trusting someone means you believe they are good at what they do. If you eat at a nice restaurant, you might trust the head chef. If she has already planned a menu, you know she understands food well. You can be sure that all the dishes will go together and taste good to you.
Being able to undo mistakes also makes life much simpler. Think about typing a letter a few decades ago. If you made one mistake on a typewriter, you had to retype the whole page. Today, we can just press ‘delete’! You can also return bad online purchases or delete comments on social media. This ability to fix mistakes makes our lives easier. We don’t have to worry so much about every single thing we do.
Now, let’s look at times when making things too simple can be bad.
Blink 7 – Making things simple is not always the best, especially with feelings.
Imagine a doctor finds out her patient has a deadly tumor. She goes to the waiting room and tells the patient, ‘You have cancer and will die soon.’ Then she leaves to see the next patient. This is the quickest and ‘simplest’ way to share the news. But it is clearly not the best. When people’s feelings are involved, simply being direct is not always the right answer.
Sometimes, we need to make things a bit more complex. This is so we can consider people’s feelings.
Think about text messages or chat messages. They let us share information quickly. But this simple way of talking comes at a cost. Usually, people communicate not just with words. They also use body language, their voice, and facial expressions. These important parts are missing in a text message.
Because of this, it’s harder to show complex feelings. Misunderstandings can happen easily, and someone’s feelings can get hurt by accident. To fix this, messaging app makers added more complexity to simple texts. They added emojis or emoticons. These can show many different feelings.
Emojis let us add a mood or feeling to our words. They make chat communication more complex, but they help us show our many emotions.
In product design, one feeling goes against simplicity: the wish to be unique. You can see this difference between wanting simplicity and wanting to show personal feelings in the many creative accessories for smartphones.
People love how simple smartphones are. But they protect them with colorful and flashing cases. These cases show their unique style, feelings, and beliefs. This is a good example of how simplicity and being unique can work together.
In summary, simplicity and complexity sometimes need each other. And some things simply cannot be made too simple.
Blink 8 – New technology changes what parts of our lives can be simpler.
New technologies have grown faster in the last ten years than ever before. These new technologies change how we see and understand simplicity in two ways.
First, today’s computer programs can hide difficult processes. This means we, the users, only see the simple parts.
For example, when you search on Google, huge computers around the world sort through vast amounts of data. They use complex rules and systems. But you never see this. You just type words into a small box. Then you get millions of search results in a clear list.
This type of simplicity is everywhere online. Years ago, you had to write code to build a website. Now, there are tools that let anyone build a website easily, using pre-made parts. The complex details stay hidden from users.
Second, open-source software makes it easier to work on big or complex tasks together. This software is free and can be used by anyone. Because it’s free, a community of users helps to improve it. Having a large group working together makes solving problems simpler.
An example of open-source software is the Linux operating system. Its code is public, so anyone can check it and change it. Thousands of experts have formed a group around this system. They know the code very well.
For many topics, there are online communities and forums. These groups can solve problems much better than one person alone. Experts meet there to discuss ideas. People who are new to a topic can quickly get advice from experts. This makes it simpler for everyone to solve problems.
Summary
Here is the main message of these summaries:
Our daily lives are becoming more complex, so we want simplicity. In product design, simplicity always works well. You should also aim for simplicity in your work and personal life. Simplicity and usefulness go together. Often, we must remove features to make things simple. But sometimes, especially when dealing with other people, we should not make things too simple. If we only focus on the main points in those situations, we might hurt others quickly.
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We hope these summaries were helpful. Please tell us what you think about our content. Just send an email to [email protected]. Use ‘Simplicity’ as the subject.
For more reading: Simplify your life by Werner Tiki Küstenmacher
Do you want more simplicity in your daily life now? These summaries weren’t very practical for that, we admit. But Werner Tiki Küstenmacher’s ‘Simplify’ method offers more concrete steps. The summaries of his book give tips for a happy life through making things simpler. This covers money, possessions, time, health, relationships, personal growth, and spiritual life.
Source: https://www.blinkist.com/https://www.blinkist.com/de/books/simplicity-de