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Simplexity

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Simplexity is an emerging theory that proposes a possible complementary relationship between complexity and simplicity. The term draws from General Systems Theory, Dialectics (philosophy) and Design. Jeffery Kluger wrote a book about this phenomenon that describes how house plants can be more complicated than industrial plants, how a truck drivers job can be as difficult as a CEO's and why 90% of the money donated to help cure diseases are given only to the research of 10% of them (and vice versa).

The term has been adapted in advertising, and marketing and other industries.

Design aspects

  • Complexity tends to rise as system elements specialize and diversify to solve specific challenges.
  • Simple interfaces tend to improve the usability of complex systems.

History of the term

Like most terms they are shaped through dialogues and discussions. Several individuals have participated in the development of the meaning of this term in both formal and informal venues.

Education

One of the first formally published instances of the word was in the journal 'Childhood Education' (1924), in the article it seems to be used to discuss education and psychology related issues. [1]

In Science

Jack Cohen (scientist) and Ian Stewart authors of the book The Collapse of Chaos (1995), a non-fiction book that attempts to explain chaos theory and complex systems to the general public.

The complexity of algorithms and of mathematical problems is one of the central subjects of theoretical computer science. Simplexity was whimsically defined by computer scientists Broder and Stolfi as a concept worthy of as much attention as complexity:

"The simplexity of a problem is the maximum inefficiency among the reluctant algorithms that solve P . An algorithm is said to be pessimal for a problem P if the best-cast inefficiency of A is asymptotically equal to the simplexity of P"[2]

Interdisciplinary

Simplexity became the topic of formal discussion at the Hamburg Trend Day in Germany. Among the formal contributors were Peter Wippermann, Dr. Norbert Bolz, David Bosshart, Designer Ora Ito, Markus Shepherd, Susane Tide Frater.

Simplexity: Why Simple Things Become Complex (and How Complex Things Can Be Made Simple) by Jeffrey Kluger details many ways in which simplexity theory can be applied to multiple disciplines. Kluger offers a look at simplexity at work in economics, sports, linguistics, technology, medicine, and dozens of human behaviors. Simplexity also provides insight into how readers can improve their lives by understanding the interplay of complexity and simplicity.

Social aspects

Professor Petter Wipperman proposed a social definition

"We long for simplicity and satisfaction. Simplexity therefore stands for a balance between the growing complexity of daily life and our own personal satisfaction. In order to attain this state, we have to stop always striving to make optimal decisions. In the future, it will be more important to make judgments that are just good enough."[3]

References

  1. ^ (Unknown). Childhood Education Published 1924. Association for Childhood Education International.
  2. ^ Broder, Andrei and Jorge Stolfi. "Pessimal Algorithms and Simplexity Analysis."
  3. ^ Wipperman, Peter. (year unknown). Ars Electronica

Further reading

Books

Dan Geesin first used the term 'Simplexity' in his essay 'The melancholy of the set square', 2002, when describing how technology creates more distance through complex interfaces whilst performing a simple task. For example, getting money from a bank machine. He describes how in between the chain of interfaces there is more room for error. More interfaces, more potential problems.

Articles
Conference Proceedings
  • de Groen, P. C., Dettinger, Richard, and Johnson, Pete. Mayo Clinic/IBM computational biology collaboration: A simple user interface for complex queries. In: Universal Access in HCI, Volume 4 of the Proceedings of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) International, 2003, pages 1083–1087.
Blogs
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