Minimalism in Theory and Practice

In 1990, Dr. John Carroll introduced the concept of minimalism in his book “The Nurnberg Funnel: Designing Minimalist Instruction for Practical Computer Skill” and became known as “The father of minimalism”. I interviewed him in 2013 about the book and its follow-up “Minimalism Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel,” and recently joined him to discuss “Minimalism at 30” on the 30th anniversary of the original book’s publication. Minimalism has continued to evolve over the years, and technical communicators are still talking about it and trying to practice it. In this talk, I’ll discuss the origins and core principles of minimalism, how users benefit from minimalism, misconceptions about minimalism (the biggest one is “minimalism means brevity”), and best practices.