Article
Tesler’s Law
Jon Yablonski
- Tesler’s law, also known as the law of conservation of complexity, states that for any system there is a certain amount of complexity that cannot be reduced.
- • All processes have a core of complexity that cannot be designed away and therefore must be assumed by either the system or the user. • Ensure as much as possible of the burden is lifted from users by dealing with inherent complexity during design and development. • Take care not to simplify interfaces to the point of abstraction.
- Complexity bias is our tendency to favor complex and intricate solutions over straightforward ones, often because complexity is associated with intelligence, expertise, or depth of understanding
- users never read software manuals but instead start using the software immediately. This happens because users are often motivated to complete their immediate tasks, and therefore they don’t want to spend time up front reading documentation. It is, of course, a paradox, because users will save time in the long term if they first take time to learn and optimize around the system
- Progressive disclosure is an interaction design technique that displays only important actions or content by default, while making additional features or content easily accessible. The result is a more streamlined interface that helps to keep the user’s attention focused by reducing clutter, confusion, and cognitive load