The idea behind Progressive Reduction is simple: Usability is a moving target. A user’s understanding of your application improves over time and your application’s interface should adapt to your user.
So begins one of the briefest yet most fully packed little articles I have encountered in a good while. If you’re familiar with concepts like “progressive disclosure” in web and mobile application design, Progressive Reduction will feel comfortably familiar. Yet it is also new, in that smack-yourself-in-the-forehead way great ideas have of making you wonder why you didn’t think of them yourself.
Even if you are already practicing some of these ideas in your design work, you may not have articulated them or put them together quite the way these folks have. The notion of “Experience Decay” alone is worth the price of admission.
layervault.tumblr.com/post/42361566927/progressive-reduction
And they are trying to patent this: http://patents.stackexchange.com/questions/4233/user-interface-changing-icon-appearance-based-on-frequency-of-use-samsung
Some critical thoughts on progressive reduction and comparisions to human psychology: http://bit.ly/15jcNSR
I’m always amazed, and a bit sickened, every time someone claim to have something to teach about usability, and then they say it on a fogging low-contrast webpage.
http://layervault.tumblr.com/post/42361566927/progressive-reduction
Talk about instant zero credibility.
I’m guessing that following their design ideas, the page will get progressively dimmer every time you visit it, until the text has the exact same color as the background.
Adrian, thanks for the link http://bit.ly/15jcNSR. It’s worthy reading!
Thank you for taking the time and sharing this information with us. It was indeed very helpful and insightful !