It's your fault if users can't figure out your tool

Stop blaming the user. It’s your fault if people can’t figure out how to use your thing.

I love writing documentation. It helps me organize my thoughts and slow down enough to check for gaps. 

But a project I’ve been working on recently has been a struggle. 

In this product, there’s more than one way to do everything. 

You can customize your dashboard layout to show whatever widgets you want in whatever layout you want.

So everyone sees something different when they log in.

The sidebar menu is like a used book store. You have tabs at the top, tabs on the side, and nested menus to the right of that.

But then there’s also a set of abbreviated menus at the top of the page with common actions.

You can use the search bar to find things, but the search bar is also the help center and the knowledge base.

It’s all there. It’s infinitely flexible. 

But everything lives in three places and there’s no consistent logic for how to navigate it. 

And I've got to organize it in a way that will make sense to a bunch of strangers.

So back to me and my documentation. 

“To do the thingy-ma-whatzit, look for the doo-ma-hickey on your dashboard.

It may be over here, 

or here, 

or here. 

Unless you moved it somewhere else.

Then you should check over here.

“You submit the task on this screen,

but if you want to modify it, you have to go here.

Or here, but only on Tuesdays.

If it’s a full moon, it’s in this menu.”

Maybe it’s my ADHD. I have a very, very had time classifying things. 

Or maybe this platform is what an ADHD brain looks like to a normie.

“Clothes go in the drawer,

Unless they’re dirty, then they go in the laundry basket.

Unless the laundry basket is full, then they go on the ground next to the laundry basket.

Unless the laundry basket isn’t there for some reason, then they go on the floor where the laundry basket used to be.

Unless I got uncomfortable while I was cooking. Which is why there’s a kitchen chair dedicated hoodies, baseball caps, and bras."

Opinionated software isn't limiting, it makes it easier to use.

A yes/no toggle doesn’t limit the possibilities. It focuses you on the decision that really matters.

Consistent signposting doesn’t make the trip more boring. It helps you stay on route so you make it to your destination.

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👋 I’m Claire. I wrote that last paragraph with my fingers. Proofreading it now, I realize it reads like AI. Oh well. Sometimes humans write like AI. 

And sometimes humans have a bra-chair in their kitchen. Both things are normal. What?

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