Jeffrey Kluger's Simplexity is a book full of interesting, but poorly inter-related ideas. Kluger covers a range of topics - politics, sports, linguistics - and summarizes what some of the leading thinkers have discovered about the underlying factors that influence complexity in behavior.
Simplexity is at its best when it focus on the general theories and definitions around the connection between simplicity and complexity. For example, the simplest systems are either inert (like a lump of carbon) or highly chaotic (a room full of gas molecules). Complexity emerges when systems fall between the highly static and the highly dynamic - like an organism. Unfortunately, these types of graspable principles are not carried out through the book. I found myself wondering whether Kluger had used the theme of simplicity/complexity as a convenient thread to assemble of number of disparate, but individually interesting ideas.
There is chapter on product design - "Why are your cell phone and camera so absurdly complicated?". As in other chapters, the leading experts in the field - in this case primarily Donald Norman, Alan Cooper and John Maeda - provide commentary on the balance of complexity. Given this group of experts, its not surprising that a good deal of time is spent on blaming engineers and technology for failing to effectively account for the capabilities of the end-user: "the fault lies less with those designers themselves than with the nature of the entire industry."
The chapter points out that technology shifts have caused the rapid rise in complexity and poor usability. For example, the replacement of visible knobs and dials on an old television set with invisible, hidden states that are not immediately accessible to the user. The solution is not to move away from complexity, but to make the complexity hidden from the user. With the obligatory iPod reference:
"In some ways, this is anything but simplicity; it's a very complicated program doing very complicated work. But it's doing it all in the background and simply presenting you with the functional result." "Your eyes and hand are the front ends of the bodily system. The screen and scroll pad are the front ends of the iPod."
