More emotions are better than fewer: when emotion comes first, do not be afraid to add ornament or layers of meaning.

Drawn from what John Maeda said

What this subject means

design How things should be made and judged: what makes a design good, who should do the designing, and what an interface is for.

On the topicWhat makes a design good?under our view: Good design is felt: speed, touch, behaviour and emotion count for more than how it looks On the topicWhy is it harder to simplify than to add?under our view: Less is not the goal: the aim is clarity, and cutting too far loses what mattered

What John Maeda actually said

John Maeda 11 Jun 2006 Designer and technologist

More emotions are better than less. When emotions are considered above everything else, don’t be afraid to add more ornament or layers of meaning.

↗The Laws of Simplicity, Law 7: Emotionlawsofsimplicity.com
11 Jun 2006

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In tension with

Better design does not mean more design: the most obvious designs are often invisible.

Zhuo says better design does not mean more design and that the most obvious designs are often invisible. Maeda says more emotions are better than fewer and that ornament is allowed when emotion comes first. Invisible and emotional are not opposites, and every specific decision has to pick one of them.
In tension with

The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction: when in doubt, remove.

Maeda holds both laws and they pull opposite ways: when in doubt remove, and when emotion comes first do not be afraid to add ornament or layers of meaning. Which one is in force is the whole judgement, and the pair is the reason simplicity is not a rule you can follow.

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