Chapter 15: Making Software Smart

The computer does the work, and the user does the thinking. This division of labor should change.

A computer has enough power to make several assumptions and discard those that are wrong.

An interface should have a memory. Continually interrogating users is not only a form of excise, but from a psychogical perspective, it is a subtle way of expressing doubt about their authority.

Task coherence - predicting what a user will do by remembering what he did last.

If it's worth the user entering, it's worth the program remembering.

Remember:
File locations
Deduced information - reframe from bothering the user
Multi-session undo - undo still available after closing
Less errors by user because computer will do more work by itself.

Decision set reduction - computer pays attention to past decisions and makes choosing one of those decisions easier.

Preference thresholds - asking the user for successively detailed decisions about a procedure is unnecessary, unless the user is known to make those changes.

If we can predict correctly 80% of the time, that is better than bothering the user 80% of the time.

The next time you find your program asking your users a question, make it ask itself one instead.