Increasing productivity by using fundamental rules in life and design

Modern scientific techniques are not always sufficient to explain all that occurs in our environment. How can you explain, for example, why a presentation on a flash drive stops functioning a minute before a conference address and why sandwiches always fall butter side down? Why is the customer unhappy with the shadow cast by the "Contact" button yet not interested in using better images for the website? Who is at fault for this whole mess, and where is justice?

Experts from many professions create their own set of guidelines to help systematize the chaos in the world; these guidelines are effectively utilized in the domains of development, design, branding and rebranding. We examine the most intriguing ones today using real-world examples.

Murphy's Law

"Someone will take this course of action if there are two options, and one ends in disaster."

Murphy's law can be called the Law of Spit or the Law of Sandwiches. Major Edward Murphy, who researched the reasons for aircraft mishaps at the California Navy facility, is credited with coining the phrase in 1949. Legend has it that he stated this right before the airplane engine started oppositely spinning the propeller. Later on, it became clear that the technicians had put the pieces in the wrong order.

The Pauli effect is only one of the several effects of Murphy's law. According to him, every technological device around specific people would malfunction. Do you recall those awful times when a project presentation went from perfect to a complete disaster in front of the client?

This legislation provides both extensive and insufficient explanation. Furthermore, it just serves to affirm that we are all under the devil's curse. The positive thing is that we can at least plan to fail when it's most convenient for us. Stock up on additional presentation boards, make a backup copy of your most crucial files, and be ready for anything. The achievement will come as a welcome surprise.

Occam's Razor

"One shouldn't multiply things unnecessarily" means that you should create one similar element rather than several if you can get away with just one. This rule is applicable perfectly to information design, advertising copy, and interfaces. Here's an example of how this principle can be applied to websites: - there are two clicks instead of four; - there are three fields in the application instead of seven; - it's not a registration form; instead, it's an authorization through social media platforms.

This idea isn't the same as minimalism; it goes beyond appearances. Reducing the quantity of extra information while also making the user's journey to their objective shorter is crucial. This is how a consumer applies for a credit card on a banking website; it's how they quickly adjust the time in an alarm clock interface; and it's how the relevant information is delivered in advertising text.

It's not always straightforward to find the simplest option. Human nature tends to complement, overwhelm, and complicate, which is why many designers dislike it. Both novices, with their innate young maximalism and seasoned experts, are capable of sinning on this.

You may start working on the important thing and eliminate all the extraneous stuff by using Occam's Razor. As a consequence, you'll be able to focus more helpful material in your project and get rid of extraneous barriers that the user needs to overcome.

Parkinson's Law

"The task grows to occupy the time allotted to finish it."

British historian Cyril Parkinson, who the British government employed, was the first to observe this phenomenon. He discovered that as the bureaucracy grew, department personnel lost productivity, and the number of staff members had no effect on total production.

Although this interpretation of the pattern as a human predisposition to put things off till later is common, it is not totally accurate. The Parkinson's principle and procrastination are very different from one another. In the first instance, individuals adjust their workload and quantity of work in accordance with their deadlines, while in the latter, they begin the task at the last possible moment.

Anything that has to be completed in a year will be completed in that year. That said, it's okay if it needs to be completed in five months. When you give yourself two weeks to finish work that can be finished in two days, the task gets harder merely to get through the extra week. To put it another way, having too much time limits the project's functioning, while having too little permits you to create it bigger and more complex.

KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) Principle

"Most systems work better if they stay simple, not complex."

These days, complicated solutions for a wide range of activities may be developed with great ease using modern programming languages, frameworks, and APIs.

It is a common temptation for developers to produce the most intricate and sophisticated product they can. According to the KISS principle, a solution will work better if there is less polymorphism (also known as variety), inheritance, and the like. Skilled site designers understand that an invisible interface may nevertheless be helpful. In the developer community, hidden interfaces—also known as null interfaces—are a popular subject. Not in vain, either. UI design is a major barrier. We want to concentrate on the information that the website offers, not on it.

You can make sure that your users stay at the heart of your purpose by concentrating on the experience rather than the interface. And whatever you do will improve and facilitate their quality of life.

Pareto principle (80/20 percent rule)

"For numerous instances, roughly 80% of the consequences come from 20% of the causes."

Vilfredo Pareto, an economist, was the creator of this pattern. He discovered in 1896 that 20% of the Italian people held almost 80% of the country's land. There is another tale about Pareto who, while tending to the garden, discovered that 80% of the peas reside in 20% of the pea pods prior to doing a worldwide computation.

The law's immediate result is that most activities will unavoidably be carried out in vain. While most of what is in the world is of little value and yields few outcomes, a small number of items operate incredibly effectively and have a significant impact.

Twenty percent of your consumers account for about 80% of your sales. 80% of failures are caused by 20% of mistakes. 80% of your company outcomes are produced by 20% of your workforce. The four-to-one ratio will always remain the same, even though the numbers might not always be even.

Although it is frequently utilized in business, the 20/80 idea may also be employed in daily life. Try to respond to these inquiries. They only appear difficult because you haven't attempted to compute this before:

What activities give you 80% of your enjoyment yet only take up 20% of your time?
Which 20% of your closet do you spend 80% of your time wearing?
What comprises the 20% of meals and snacks that account for 80% of your daily intake?

Replied? Now consider how you can make these aspects of your life better. Of course, there are many more instances of how economics, psychology, and other disciplines' principles and laws are applied in the realm of design and development; even the most common hypotheses can have unconventional uses.

Try, wherever you can, to draw comparisons between the decisions you make at work and in your daily life. For example, what if your grocery store's canned pea policy aligns with the way your employer's customers restock the basket in an online store?