Zen for humans

The Zen of 80|20 for designing content, programs, screens, bundles of packages, and whole systems.

Companion: Zen for agents.

1. Don't do 20|80.

Deliver the requested value with the smallest complete solution. Extra features and stronger promises bring costs; add them for real needs, not imagined ones. Simplicity must preserve correctness and trust.

2. Use before inventing.

Combine and reuse what already works. Introduce a new concept only for a current need that existing concepts cannot meet simply, and keep it focused on that need. Let further uses earn their complexity when they arrive.

3. Do more with less.

Choose a small set of capabilities that delivers most of the practical value. Simplicity should make the system useful, coherent, and dependable.

4. Give every responsibility a home.

Organize packages and bundles around meaningful areas of responsibility. Make each part's purpose and its relationship to the whole easy to explain.

5. Prefer clarity over cleverness.

Make the important concepts and relationships easy to explain. Content, programs, and screens should reinforce that understanding.

6. Leave room for creativity.

Use conventions to make ordinary work easy while leaving clear ways to adapt and extend the design. Useful defaults should support different approaches as needs evolve.

7. Keep dependencies deliberate.

Connect parts through what their responsibilities require. Allow each part to evolve without forcing unrelated parts to change.