Decide who should resolve the complexity that the task cannot avoid.
01 / UNDERSTAND
Some task complexity remains even after unnecessary steps are removed. Someone must still reconcile schedules, match an account to a website or apply a business rule. Tesler’s Law asks where that unavoidable work should live: with the person, inside the system, or in the supporting service. A simpler-looking screen does not mean the underlying work has disappeared.
Trace the complete task and distinguish avoidable complication from the constraints that make it difficult. Software may be able to check many calendars faster than a person, while the organiser still decides which meeting time is appropriate. Moving complexity into the system also creates obligations: explain assumptions, expose relevant exceptions and support correction when automation gets it wrong. The aim is not to eliminate user agency or conceal consequential rules. It is to allocate the work to the party best equipped to do it, while keeping the result understandable.
02 / RECOGNISE
Examples of how the principle can appear in an interface.
1Password presents a relevant saved login beside a sign-in field and can fill the associated details. The password and account-matching work still exists, but much of it is handled by the product. The person retains the job of recognising the intended account and authorising access appropriately.
Google Calendar’s suggested meeting times can consider calendar availability, time zones, working hours and conflicts for eligible users. Instead of comparing every calendar manually, an organiser reviews candidate slots. The system handles much of the constraint work while the person chooses the suitable time.
03 / CONNECT
Assess total task effort, exception handling and recovery cost, rather than judging success by the number of visible fields.
Possible influences to investigate, rather than guaranteed outcomes for every product.
04 / APPLY
Separate essential task constraints from accidental complication
Let the system resolve work it can handle reliably
Expose assumptions and give people a way to correct the outcome
05 / EXPLORE WITH UPSLIDE
Use a practical guide, read a deeper explanation, or examine a related Upslide project.
Map the full task and identify which complexities can be resolved by the service instead of each user.
Examine dependencies and exceptions rather than judging simplicity by screen count.
Study how a regulated investigation preserves required complexity while clarifying the workflow.
CONNECT THE IDEAS
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