Alan Kay Quotes

Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.

Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to keep things simple.

No matter how beautiful, no matter how cool your interface, it would be better if there were less of it.

Easy things should be easy, and hard things should be possible.

It's actually very difficult to make something both simple and good.

It takes a lot of hard work to make something simple.

It is the people who figure out how to work simply in the present, rather than the people who mastered the complexities of the past, who get to say what happens in the future.

A well-conceived product excels at what it does. It's close to being functionally flawless - like a Ziploc bag, a radio from Tivoli Audio, a Philips Sonicare toothbrush, a Nespresso coffee maker or Google's home page.

Simplicity is the outcome of technical subtlety. It is the goal, not the starting point.

People don't want lots and lots of single purpose devices. They do not want to have to learn how to set up something for photos, another thing for music, another thing for video.

Dealing with complexity is an inefficient and unnecessary waste of time, attention and mental energy. There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be simple.

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote controls, digital cameras with hundreds of mysterious features and book-length manuals, and cars with dashboard systems worthy of the space shuttle.

My goal is to simplify complexity. I just want to build stuff that really simplifies our base human interaction.

Things that are ultimately complex must have a simple end user experience if they are to be successful.

A computer shall not waste your time or require you to do more work than is strictly necessary.

Don't reinvent the wheel, just realign it.

Technology makes things faster and more cost-effective, but it's not perfect. It requires you to be as flexible as you can be.

The wonderful thing about Apple technology is just how intuitive it is.

Whether you're a programmer or a seamstress, it's all about new techniques, simplifying old techniques, and consolidating steps. Making things go faster - but not worse.

Stop trying to change reality by attempting to eliminate complexity.

Make everything as simple as possible but not simpler.

I feel that it's lovely when, as a user, you're not aware of the complexity.

A world-changing vision often necessitates a profound simplicity in the user experience.

I have sometimes thought the power of computers had exceeded our ability to use them, but Mr. Jobs and his team kept giving us devices that made indispensable things easier in ways you never thought of.