Scientific Definition
Keep it simple, stupid. Simplicity beats complexity in design and communication.
Plain-English Definition
Keep it simple, stupid. Simplicity beats complexity in design and communication.
Feynman Explanation
If you need a diagram to explain it, you have already lost.
Core Principle
Keep it simple, stupid. Simplicity beats complexity in design and communication.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Keep it simple, stupid. Simplicity beats complexity in design and communication.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Complexity is a tax on execution and adoption.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
If you need a diagram to explain it, you have already lost.
Examples
- Simple products with fewer features often win.
- Complexity is a tax on execution and adoption.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Force a one-page explanation of any plan or product.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Force a one-page explanation of any plan or product.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Deriving general rules from specific examples; the leap from instance to concept.
The brain evolved to reason adaptively, not always truthfully, to reduce the cost of errors.
We solve problems by adding, even when subtracting would be better.
Assuming that if one option is true, another must be false, when both can be true.
Presuming a purposeful actor behind events that may have no actor at all.
What cannot be settled by experiment is not worth debating.
A finite set of well-defined instructions for solving a problem or performing a computation.
Every model simplifies reality; some are still useful.
Researchers favor conclusions aligned with their school, team, or sponsor.
Using personal stories or isolated examples instead of evidence.
Claiming something is true or better because most people believe it.
Assuming something is true because it is probable or possible.