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Showing posts from May, 2013

The 80/20 Rule

Also known as the "Pareto principle", the "principle of factor sparsity" and the "law of the vital few". It suggests that a high percentage of effects in any large system are caused by low percentage of variables. The principle was named after the Italian economist  Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of income in Italy was received by 20% of the Italian population. It goes something like this, 80% of outcomes can be attributed to 20% of the causes for a given event. It has been observed in many walks of life be it business  design, management or life in general. This rule is useful for focusing resources and in turn reaching higher levels of efficiency in design/product. Other examples can be given as -     80% of products usage involve 20% of it's features   80% of town's traffic is on 20% of it's roads   80%of company's revenue comes from 20% of it's products.   80% of innovation comes from 20% of it's people   80% of the