UIEtips: Riding the Magic Escalator of Acquired Knowledge

Getting your head around a complex design is, dare I say, a complex process. It’s difficult to understand why your users are struggling with all the features and concepts they want and need in your design.

One cause is that we tend to think of complexity as a holistic effect. We try to decide if the entire design is complex or not. However, it’s easier to realize where your design is baffling your users if you hone in on what your users do and don’t know, and what they need to know to accomplish their objective.

In today’s UIEtips, I explore a simple visualization tool we invented to help teams and stakeholders see where their designs are too complex for their users and what they can do about it. I call this tool the Magic Escalator of Acquired Knowledge and, as you’ll see, it can be quite effective for getting the entire team working on making an easier-to-use design.

Read the article, Riding the Magic Escalator of Acquired Knowledge.