blog from 2006 to 2013 by ยป John Maeda
The Laws of Simplicity is a 100-page book I wrote just as the Apple iPod was starting to take off and while I was earning my MBA as a kind of “hobby.” LOS has been translated into more than 14 different languages -- and has now been around for over a decade. I never finished the sequel to LOS, but I wrote a short book on design, tech, and leadership as a form of therapy.
Thank you for being curious about the Laws of Simplicity. A lot has changed in the technology world since I first wrote it, so I hope that you can use the parts (and laws and keys) that are still standing the test of time. Signed copies of LOS are now available with free shipping in the US.
2014
7/27 Dr. Daniel Cabrera's LOS for Emergency Medicine 8/30 ANAME, CNAME, ALIAS, DNS 8/10 Do Both 5/3 Laws of Simplicity, Revisited
2013
12/30 Design and Venture .Org 5/27 Commencement Memories 3/17 Context is King 3/16 Confidence without Ego 1/27 The Gift, from ca 2000 1/27 Parade Magazine (2006) 1/20 Life Hack List 1/5 Rethinking Technology 1/5 Audio Book Version of LOS 1/5 4/4 Always Being Told That You Have Potential 7/3 Simply Imperfect
2012
10/28 Site Resurrected on WordPress 12/5 The Laws of Subtraction
The Laws of Simplicity was based on the old blog I used to have at the MIT Media Lab which fortunately lives on via the Wayback machine here. And since you bothered to read all the way to the bottom, I'm pleased to whisper to you that I'm working on a new book to be entitled The Laws of Design ... pardon my lack of originality <smile>
2010
12/28 SLIP Tool Resurrected 10/23 Life Simplified by Posterous
2008
3/28 March 31 / Reebok Emoretion Launch 3/24 The Illusion of Speed 3/23 Plug-and-Chomp 3/17 Todoist 3/10 Sasabune: Trust Me 3/9 Is it Failing? 7/23 Laws Recast 7/20 Update 12/22 Hmmm 4/20 Returns 4/1 Twofers Are More as Less 2/18 It's Not About the Coffee 8/12 Muji 8/2 The Tao of Warren Buffet 1/2 The Simplest Telephone
2007
3/31 Simplified US Postage Finder 3/29 The Secret Garden 3/19 The Way of the Butler 3/5 Lemon Flag 6/30 Opening Pandora's Box 6/24 Meaningfulless; Meaningfulmore. 6/18 The Need for (Un)Speed 6/17 The Customer is Always Right 6/17 Simplicity in the French Countryside 6/15 The Power of Repetition 6/12 Love Cartier 6/11 How Many Engineers Does it Take to Turn on a Light Bulb? 6/4 Time For Ben 6/4 More Equals Survival 5/29 Second Life 5/28 Two Words 5/28 Scott Kim 5/22 Experience Design Checkoff List 5/21 Human 2.0 5/20 Nice To Depart You 5/18 Great Products 5/11 Free Swim 5/4 Saatchi Says 10/28 iShrink 12/26 Xmas Bonanza 12/21 RISD 12/13 TDC Bccks 2/25 Sugar Axe 2/24 LOS in Italy 2/12 The Aesthetics of Failure 2/4 Trust the Tempura Master 4/25 Lucky Fate 4/22 Brother, Got a Light? 4/16 London Showers bring May Flowers 4/14 Made to Stick 4/9 Step by Step 4/5 Sign of Power 4/3 Google Sign-In 4/1 Simplicity Squared 4/1 Prompt Delivery 9/23 MilliLetter 9/21 iPod, therefore I am 9/18 Outsourced 9/14 Untitled 9/9 NYT Key Magazine 8/22 The Plenitude 7/21 R for Reduce 7/19 Pointing to the Sky 7/17 The Conquest of Happiness 7/15 The New More 7/15 Simplified Investing 7/14 Forever Stamps 7/12 Talk of the Nation 7/9 A Perfect Mess 7/7 My Paper iPhone 7/7 Computer Graphic-ishness 7/3 Empathy and Fullness 11/21 Em Ay See ... Em Pee Three ... 11/18 Shiny and Black 11/18 Digitally Green 11/17 Sacred Hoops 11/12 Reebok Timetanium Shoes Release 11/11 The Round Table 11/5 ABC 11/1 The Purpose of Human Life 1/26 Oh! Simplicity 1/24 A Tiny Step Forward 1/18 Free Money 1/16 Who You Gonna Trust ... 1/14 Run for Your Life! 1/10 On-Demand Largeness 1/8 Three's Company 1/7 There is no such thing as global warming 1/7 Googled by Google 1/1 How We Think 1/1 H.N.Y.
2006
12/31 Complexity is Highly Overrated 12/31 Broth is to Cereal as ... 12/28 Simplicity, my dear Watson. 12/24 Simplicitee Shirt 12/18 Simple Fixes: 1 12/18 Jacey Eckhart 12/17 Builders Like Simplicity 12/15 Tom Peters' World 12/13 The Better to See You With, My Dear 12/12 To the Core 12/9 Slide and Tilt 12/6 Design Life Now 12/4 Simple (but satisfying) Printing 12/3 When at MoMA ... 12/3 Simplicity Advisory Board Writeup 12/1 Fixed Trend Meter 10/30 Bliss-fully Aware 10/23 A Whole New Mind 10/21 The Cost of Simplicity 10/10 Wrong Number 10/10 Near "Hahvahd Yahd" 10/3 Good to Great 10/3 Army of Glenn 10/2 Wired Up 10/1 The Power of Indirection 8/29 Welcome 8/28 Photos Simplified 8/28 Google Map in a Blog 9/29 Artful Sentences 9/25 L.O.S. Angeles 9/24 My AARP Membership Cometh 9/17 Fine Quotes on Simplicity 9/16 Crossing the Chasm 9/15 Mixed Signals 9/15 I'm Slip-ping 9/14 Business Takes Simplicity 9/10 Simplicity Symposium: Part 5 9/10 Simplicity Symposium: Part 4 9/10 If in Washington DC 9/7 Simplicity Symposium: Part 3 9/6 Simplicity Symposium: Part 2 9/5 How to SLIP 9/4 Simplicity Symposium: Part 1 11/27 Whack Pack 11/25 Tiny Bubbles 11/25 newer. better? 11/24 Late to the Parade 11/19 Here Comes the Parade 11/19 Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe 11/15 Simplicity in Seattle 11/14 Seeing Red 11/14 ON POINT 11/12 Out of Our Minds 11/12 Open Source Garbage 11/12 Medda x Maeda 11/12 LG Simpure 11/11 SMPL 11/7 Simply Special 11/4 Dial S, B, O 11/4 Core77 7/24 Trend Meter Is Up 7/23 Toyota Production System 7/23 The Wisdom of Crowds 7/23 The Tipping Point 7/23 The Long Tail 7/23 The Innovator's Solution 7/23 Technics and Civilization 7/23 Six Memos for the Next Millennium 7/23 Notes on the Synthesis of Form 7/23 Motivation and Personality 7/23 Law 9: Failure 7/23 Law 8: Trust 7/23 Law 7: Emotion 7/23 Law 6: Context 7/23 Law 5: Differences 7/23 Law 4: Learn 7/23 Law 3: Time 7/23 Law 2: Organize 7/23 Law 10: The One 7/23 Law 1: Reduce 7/23 Emotional Design 7/22 Disabling Professions 6/18 Key 3: Power 6/14 The Paradox of Choice 6/14 Key 2: Open 6/14 Key 1: Away 6/12 The Laws of Simplicity 6/12 Cradle to Cradle
2005
7/16 Low Energy Living
Copyright 2005 - 2014, John Maeda