Avoid the usability cliff. Create a stairway to heavenly complexity.

“Simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible” – Alan Kay.

This is a good rule of thumb for anyone creating digital tools, no matter if you are working on the API-level or with the user interface. But it is only a start. You need to make sure that the path from simple to complex is a good stairway and not a steep cliff, making sure that the increase in user effort matches the increase in perceived value.

In this lightning talk I will show concrete examples from both my own projects and well known applications, as well as demonstrating some techniques to make sure users don’t feel cheated for the effort they put in.