Lihtsustamine

Lihtsustamine is the process of making something simpler by removing unnecessary elements, reducing complexity, or translating it into a more accessible form. The concept is used across disciplines to improve understanding, efficiency, or usability.

Etymology and scope: The term combines the Estonian word liht, meaning simple, with a suffix indicating an action or process. It is used in Estonian to describe simplification in various fields, from mathematics to public administration, and can refer to both cognitive and practical aspects of making things easier.

Applications: In mathematics and formal sciences, lihtsustamine refers to reducing expressions or fractions to their simplest form, such as simplifying a fraction or combining like terms. In linguistics and communication, it describes producing plain language, removing jargon, and making texts more accessible. In software engineering, lihttusamine encompasses refactoring and removing unnecessary or redundant code to improve readability and performance. In public administration and design, it involves streamlining procedures, forms, and interfaces to reduce user effort and error rates.

Methods and examples: Common methods include applying transformation rules, choosing more straightforward representations, or using abstractions that preserve essential functionality while omitting superfluous details. Examples include reducing 6/8 to 3/4 in fractions, rewriting a complex sentence into shorter, clearer phrases, or consolidating multiple steps in a workflow into a single, user-friendly procedure.

Limitations and critique: Simplification can lead to loss of nuance, precision, or important context. The appropriate level of simplification depends on the audience, purpose, and context; overly aggressive simplification may be misleading or unusable for expert users.

See also: simplification, reduction, abstraction, plain language, refactoring, optimization.