Who am I?

Gary Elsbernd

Sometimes I get an idea that won't leave me alone. Whether these ideas are about design patterns, technical development or implementation, archery or science fiction, the elsblog is where I put my ideas and hopefully share them with the world.

I am a passionate advocate for user centered design with more than 30 years of experience. In my current role as Principle Experience Designer for Sun Life (US) based out of the Kansas City office, I am particularly interested in usability and performance centered design in web and mobile applications. 

Gery's Law

Category: Design
Hits: 1354

"Designs fail when the effort required is greater than the time available at the moment of need or the perceived benefit." - Gery's Law, Gloria Gery

effort required > (time available + perceived benefit) = system failure

Since in most cases we cannot increase the time available (we only wish we could), we must either

1) reduce the effort required (make the system more intuitive, fewer steps, etc.)

or

2) increase the perceived benefit (communicating benefits, motivating the user)