Three ways to keep it simple — one of which is bad

“Keep it simple, stupid.”   The “K.I.S.S.” principle.  Generally a good idea, but not always.

Types of Simplification

Consider three types of simplification:

  1. Leaning.  This is about getting rid of waste. When simplifying a design, leaning involves getting rid of unnecessary features.  When simplifying communications, leaning involves getting rid of information that is duplicative, unimportant or just decorative.  Edward Tufte, one of my heroes, is a statistician, artist and graphical designer and zen master of simplicity. He famously rails against “chart junk” and advocates for maximizing the “data – ink ratio.”
  2. Summarizing.  This is about dropping one or more layers of detail.  It is accomplished by grouping smaller details into categories or themes and dropping the details from the communication.  Summarization makes the information “blurry” but still tells the truth.  Summarization satisfies some readers.  To others, it serves as an introduction and and invitation to dive deeper.
  3. Glossing.  This requires making the information conform to a desired level of simplicity, even if it means fibbing. For example, a system may have three components that interact with one another.  Describing the interactions may be tedious to explain.  The interactions may require additional arrows on a diagram.  Glossing it involves escaping this annoying complexity by denying it.   Many companies create diagrams describing the components that make up their product or solution.  As described in Ian Gorton’s book on software architecture, such marketing diagrams are colloquially called “marketecture” diagrams.  Designers of such diagrams often take great liberties with their depiction of the solution, portraying it as being made up of components that conveniently correspond to the sources of value to the prospective customer, even when the actual technology components are organized in an entirely different way.  Glossing it can sometimes be helpful to communicate some deeper truth, almost like a metaphor or parable.  But, often times, glossing involves intentionally obfuscating the truth, making the solution appear to be better or simpler than it really is.

Einstein Simplification

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