Having been at this for a long time, I have grown to “see” these graphs in my mind’s eye every time I hear a client say “wouldn’t it be cool if…”

I ran a search on the web and could not find anything about these relationships. Needless to say, the only data that supports these graphs is stuck in my tenure as an information architect and usability designer. Someone must have done this study, and there must be quantitative data out there to support it. So, if you know where it is, please, for the love of God, tell me where it is.

In the mean time, I wanted to put this up – if for nothing else, to start a conversation about it.

The usability Vs. function graph basically says that at any given point in time, the number of functions available on the screen has a direct effect on how useful the product is. The more functions the less useful. Steve Krug wrote about this idea in his book, Don’t Make Me Think. I think he called it “cognitive overload.”

So far, nothing new or revolutionary, right? Right!

Mapping user experience vs usability reveals something equally as interesting (and some may argue, obvious): the curve basically says that user experience and usability increase together up to a point – after that point, experience can continue to increase but at the cost of usability.

What would make these observations even more interesting is to study the intercept between function/usability and user experience/usability – superimpose the two graphs together. We might be able to learn a great deal about that cross-over point. And more to the point, we might be able develop strategies to help designers nudge their design along that continuum.

Imagine… strategy driven designs. Wow. What a concept!