From the course: Universal Principles of Design

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The 80/20 rule

The 80/20 rule

From the course: Universal Principles of Design

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The 80/20 rule

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- [Voiceover] Hi, I'm William Lidwell. And this is the Universal Principles of Design. In this movie, the 80/20 Rule, or how to achieve more by focusing on less. In the early 1900s, an Italian economist by the name of Vilfredo Pareto was researching income distribution. He observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. And after some additional analysis, he realized this distribution described not only wealth in Italy but in all countries and that astonishingly, in large complex systems, generally. He reputedly even discovered that 80% of the peas from his garden came from 20% of the pea pods. This phenomenon is commonly called the 80/20 Rule, but it's also known as the Pareto Principle and the Law of the VItal Few. It states that in any large complex system, a large percentage of the effects are caused by a small percentage of the variables. For example, 80% of a web site's usage involves 20% of its content. 80% of a town's traffic is on 20% of its roads…

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