Help Video

 

 

Human Factors and UX Design for Project Managers

Introduction

Our goal in creating Docent interface was to apply proven UX principles to make it intuitive and low-effort to use.

 

This overview is for project managers evaluating Docent Info System (Docent).  By understanding the work and thinking behind Docent’s  design, we hope you’ll appreciate Docent’s simplicity and effectiveness.

Key UX Principles Applied in Docent

 

1. Jakob’s Law:  Users expect your system to behave like the ones they already know.

 

What this means: People bring habits and expectations from other software and expect to apply them to the new system.

Why this matters: Familiar patterns help users focus on tasks—not learning new interfaces.

 

How Docent uses this:

•The Word toolbar follows standard design conventions.

•The web version mirrors the Word version exactly.

 

2. Hick’s Law:  More choices = slower decisions.

What this means: Simplify tasks and reduce options.

 

Why this matters: Fewer choices mean faster, easier use.

 

How Docent uses this:

•Templates take care of all formatting.

•Users can focus purely on content.

•Onboarding is supported by clear, minimal help docs.

 

3. Postel’s Law:  Be flexible in what you accept, strict in what you produce.

What does this mean: Accept input in many forms, then clean it up automatically.

 

Why this matters: Makes the system more forgiving and user-friendly.

 

How Docent uses this:

•Forms ask for only essential info.

•Autofill simplifies entry and prevents errors.

•Phone numbers with or without hyphens are accepted and standardized.

 

 

4. Aesthetic-Usability Effect:  People perceive attractive things as easier to use.

What does this mean: Accept input in many forms, then clean it up automatically.

 

Why this matters: Makes the system more forgiving and user-friendly.

How Docent uses this:  A clean, professional look enhances usability and confidence.

 

5. Von Restorff Effect:  The item that stands out is more likely to be remembered.

What this means: Make important items visually distinct.

 

How Docent uses this:  Critical actions like “Delete” marked clearly with icons and color.

 

6. Tesler’s Law:  Complexity can’t be removed—only shifted.

•Key question: Should users or designers handle complexity?

•Our answer: Designers.

•How Docent uses this:

•Autofill, smart defaults, and suggested email subjects reduce user decisions.

•Progressive disclosure (like toggles and accordions) hides advanced features until needed.

•Tooltips and in-context guidance support users in real time.

•All information is created only once and used many places – saves time and prevents errors.

Learning from Uber

An excellent explanation of the key role UX and human factors played with the design of the Uber app was presented in Uxmag.com 3 .  There are two principles that apply to Docent

 

1) Operational Transparency

People don’t appreciate what they can’t see or experience.

 

“Operational transparency is the deliberate inclusion of windows into your company’s operations, so the customer can see the effort going into their experience” 4

 

Since our  goal was to hide complexity from the user, this put Docent in a quandary: If this invisibility leads to diminished user valuation, will users stop using Docent because the value provided is too hidden?  What to do?

 

We could either make Docent  more complicated (nope!) or introduce ‘windows’ into the workings of Docent to clearly show users how Docent is helping them.

 

These ‘windows’ are popups displayed while using Docent in Word.  They explain the background work being done for the user that isn’t obvious.  Thus, periodically, we introduce the users to the hidden complexity, thus demonstrating the value of Docent.

 

2) The Goal Gradient Effect

 

The goal gradient effect states that people are more motivated by how much is left to reach their target, rather than how far they have come.5

 

We suggest using multiple ‘Gates’ during the project.  A Gate would be a logical end point for a body of work.  Then, assign action items to these gates.  The PM must contend with the action items not completed; however, Docent also has tools that monitor the work completed toward that Gate.  This might be “85% of Gate 3 action items have been completed.”  This is more motivating than looking at the end of the project – maybe year or more away.  

 

Conclusion

Docent IMS is built to reduce friction for project teams. By applying time-tested UX and human factors principles, we’ve made a system where simplicity is deliberate—and often the result of complex decisions behind the scenes. The aim: to help teams focus on their work, not the software.

 

 

Sources

 

1          Laws of UX, Jon Yablonski, O’Reilly Press

2          Ryan Buell, Harvard Business School

3          Uxmag.com  “How Uber uses psychology to perfect their customer experience” alisonJenniferClinehens@uxmag.com

4          Uxmag.com