Matthew E. May in his book takes a very difficult subject, elegance, and does an incredible job explaining what it is and what it isn't. He elaborates his work into some main ideas:
The big idea: Elegance describes the perfect answer to any problem: a solution so good it makes you tingle. There are four elements of elegance. Symmetry refers to the beauty of patterns. Seduction requires engaging the intelligence by limiting information. Subtraction is paring excess. Sustainability means maintaining finite resources.
The backstory: May was drawn to the subject while studying the Toyota Production System.
If you read nothing else: Don't miss "Laws of Subtraction." May shows our inclination to act and to add; elegance is achieved when we stop acting and take away. Among the excellent examples: first direct, Britain's first branchless bank; and the spare menu at In-N-Out Burger.
"I" stands for "inscrutable": There's the obligatory Apple story. But May talks as much about the iPhone's minimalist marketing as its design.
Pass it to: Anyone involved in new products, innovation, and marketing. May explains how to provoke curiosity and improve customer satisfaction by leaving things out of products and ads.
This is not a step by step book to creating elegant solutions or products. Rather, it presents a compelling argument on why subtraction can lead to elegance. Why doing nothing is so difficult for humans and organizations but is many times the right thing "to do". Why in-action or restraining your brain from wanting to add can lead to breakthroughs in elegant design.
The author works hard to give examples from a wide range of disciplines. Because of this broad stroke of the brush, the only complaint would be that he does not delve deep enough into some of these examples. But by leaving some space, it made me want to dig deeper into some of the examples. Engaging a readers curiosity to seek more is exactly what elegance is all about. And I think the author balanced this perfectly.
Elton Dushku
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