Keyboard Shortcuts

Note: Slides can also move down, such as when I'm exploring a design principle in depth.
If so, the arrow on the lower-right indicates the vertical direction. Test it out now.

Action 1: Group topics in product sidebars

Design principle: Hierarchy

"Hierarchical organization is the simplest structure for visualizing and understanding complexity."
— Universal Principles of Design

Hierarchy example: Google

Hierarchies break down complexity

Hierarchies give idea of "whole"

Deep hierarchies don't relay "whole"

Hierarchies show what's in the neighborhood

Action 2: Navigate from doc set to doc set

Design principle: Progressive disclosure

"A strategy for managing information complexity in which only necessary or requested information is displayed at any given time."

Layer information at different levels

Doc home example: Azure

Doc home example: AWS

Prod. home example: Harvest

Action 3: Allow navigation within content

Design principle: Immersion

"A state of mental focus so intense that awareness of the 'real' world is lost, generally resulting a feeling of joy and satisfaction."
— Universal Principles of Design

Even in help, users want to stay inline

Bottom-up navigation

• If you tell me I can do something, link to how to do that something.
• If you tell me I can use something, link to a description of that something.
• If you mention a concept or an idea, link to a description of that concept or idea.

Immersion example: Wikipedia

Action 4: Make popular topics easy to access

Design principle: Desire Line

"Traces of use or wear that indicate preferred methods of interaction with an object or environment." — Universal Principles of Design

Desire line example: Twitter

Action 5: Reduce information fragmentation

Design principle: Modularity

"A method of managing system complexity that involves dividing large systems into multiple, smaller self-contained systems."
— Universal Principles of Design

Users read non-sequentially

You can just read the sections about the tasks you want to do.

Create self-contained "articles"

Building blocks ≠ presentation

Action 6: Hang signposts along the way

Design principle: Wayfinding

"The process of using spatial and environmental information to navigate to a destination."
— Universal Principles of Design

Provide context before

Provide context after

Breadcrumbs (Facebook)