Statement
P05 The interface must not become another task
The person came to do their work, not to learn ours.
Tension
Explanation
Every custom convention that must be memorized consumes the capacity the person needed for their actual problem. In products used infrequently, or with difficult content, that load is especially harmful.
Go deeper: Tension
The learning burden becomes especially damaging in educational, health, financial or infrequently used products. The person is already facing enough complexity in the content or in the decision.
Meaning
Explanation
The interface relies on familiar expectations, understandable hierarchy, and immediate response. The person who arrives is there to do their work, not to learn the team's work.
Go deeper: Meaning
An interface must build on familiar expectations, an understandable hierarchy and immediate feedback. Every custom convention the user has to memorize consumes capacity that should be spent on the real problem.
Consequence
Explanation
Familiar patterns are preferred when they solve the problem well. The primary action, the current state, and the possible next step must be evident without a prior tutorial.
Go deeper: Consequence
Prefer known conventions where they solve the problem well.
Explain in context, without requiring prior tutorials for basic actions.
Make the primary action, the current state and the next possible step evident.
Example
Navigation that names each destination by what it contains (“Manifesto” and “Principles”) lets people choose without having gone through anything beforehand.
Counterexample
Forcing people to figure out how to proceed, or to interpret hidden gestures, before they can read.
Sign of non-compliance. A numbered sequence with no visible meaning forces people to learn the navigation at the same time as the content. The numbers organize things for the team, but they do not orient the user.
Decision test
These questions detect the learning that the interface adds without the problem requiring it.
Does the person understand what the elements mean without an external legend?
Do they need to remember something from a previous screen in order to act correctly?
Does the interface add a layer of learning unrelated to the situation or the outcome to be resolved?
Source
Manifesto core v2.1, section PRINCIPLE 5 · P05. Download the core