January 3, 2025
I came across John Maeda’s 10 Laws of Simplicity back in 2011 and I think they have stood the test of time. Here’s a link to his site: [The Laws of Simplicity / John Maeda](http://lawsofsimplicity.com/).
**Ten Laws of Simplicity**
John Maeda
1 **Reduce**: The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction
2 **Organize**: Organization makes a system of many appear fewer
3 **Time**: Savings in time feel like simplicity
4 **Learn**: Knowledge makes everything simpler
5 **Differences**: Simplicity and complexity need each other
6 **Context**: What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral
7 **Emotion**: More emotions are better not less
8 **Trust**: In simplicity we trust
9 **Failure**: Some things can never be made simple
10 **The One**: Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful