> I reach for the word ratio because the concept (of two parameters whose magnitude varies and that would be meaningful in some relation) is a friend, and the w

> I reach for the word ratio because the concept (of two parameters whose magnitude varies and that would be meaningful in some relation) is a friend, and the word “better” is a writing trick to avoid having to define exactly what those are whilst still expressing the sentiment. The use of ratio is entirely appropriate for conveying this, even in non-technical settings (and such use is pretty common). But to my ear, there's a definite implication that the relationship involves the two things typically moving in the same direction (and roughly linearly) such that it's notable when they've moved in opposite directions. (It's still very much qualitative - we're not really going to be able to assign meaningful numbers). Had you spoken of complexity/power, I wouldn't have noticed anything unusual. Even so, I only really commented because I was enjoying playing with the idea of a simplicity/power ratio being somehow informative.