November, 2021

If I have think about what that data is, or what it should be, or what it will be like when I’m about to do a thing - it’s too complex and too opaque.

If your users have to know how your if-else statements work to know how to do something,  you’ve not done the work to make it simple to use for your users.

For example, if you have an app where you price services based on person, profession and/or service-type, and I will change the price of a single service, I want to know at that point what the price is. If I have to go digging multi pages deep, and at the same time remember how the hierarchy works, it’s way too opaque. Better show the current price there in the price list.

Too many enterprise apps are made that way. Too complex, too little focus on making it easier on the user of the system.

Do yourself and your users a service: show the state, show why it’s there. It will lower the burden on users, your support and the need for documentation.