December 16, 2012 — Concise but not cryptic. e=mc² is precise and not too cryptic. Shell commands, such as chmod -R 755 some_dir are concise but very cryptic.
Understandable but not misleading. "Computing all boils down to ones and zeros" is understandable and not misleading. "Milk: it does a body good", is understandable but misleading.
Minimal but not incomplete. A knife, spoon and fork is minimal. Just a knife is incomplete.
Broad but selective. A knife, spoon, and fork is broad and selective. A knife, spoon, fork and turkey baster is just as broad but not selective.
Flat but not too flat. 1,000 soldiers is flat but too flat. At least a few officers would be better.
Anthropocentric not presentcentric. Shoes are relevant to people at any time. An iPhone 1 case is only useful for a few years.
Cohesive but flexible. You want the set to match. But you want each item to be independently improvable.
Simple is balanced. It is nuanced, not black and white.