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But when solving a problem, there something even better than changing something that exists — subtraction.
As aviator and author of The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”.
In issue 075, I explored emphasizing the most special aspects of what I create. There’s no better way to achieve that than by removing all else. As I wrote in issue 070, “I can define myself, or anything for that matter, by what is left out”.
Nassim Taleb calls this idea Via Negativa — “The principle that we know what is wrong with more clarity than what is right, and that knowledge grows by subtraction. Also, it is easier to know that something is wrong than to find the fix. Actions that remove are more robust than those that add because addition may have unseen, complicated feedback loops”.
So, when I find something broken in my life or work, I keep reminding myself to resist the urge to add and instead remove. Once I’ve removed all but the most essential, I can try changing what’s left. Then only should I consider adding new things.
In the world of sleep, that has meant removing alcohol entirely, avoiding caffeine after lunch and moving my phone out of my bedroom. Then, I adjusted my sleep schedule and environment. Only then did I consider adding substances to aid sleep.
Recently, a team I was supporting got feedback that an interface was confusing. Their first reaction was to add more explanatory text.
I instead removed as many redundant elements as possible and then adjusted what was left with a focus on clarity and hierarchy. Only then did I consider adding new elements — icons in this case — to improve the design.
First subtract, then edit, then add.
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