“Shortcuts — hidden from novice users — may speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the design can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.” — Jakob Nielsen
Below are six small, working demos. Each one deliberately denies an experienced, repeat user any way to go faster — no shortcuts, no batching, no memory of past choices. Try each one more than once, then click “Reveal what actually happened” to see what a more flexible design would offer instead.
A four-slide tour plays every single time, even for a user on their hundredth visit. There is no Skip button and no “don't show this again” option — expert and novice alike click through the same four slides, every time.
Let's show you around.
Times shown: 0
Five items are waiting for approval. There's no “select all”, no “approve all”, and no checkboxes — only five individual buttons, each requiring its own separate click.
Clicks so far: 0
Pick “Price: low to high”, then refresh the results — your choice is silently reset to “Default” every time. A frequent user who always wants the same sort order has to reselect it after every single action.
A power user checks “Server alerts” fifty times a day and never looks at “Welcome tips”. There is no way to reorder, hide, or pin these widgets — everyone scrolls past the same irrelevant one, forever.
Checkboxes sit next to every message, suggesting you can select several at once — but they're decorative. There is no “delete selected” button anywhere; the only way to remove anything is the individual Delete button on each row.
Check “remember my details” and buy something — then come back for a “Buy again”. A returning, experienced customer gets the exact same blank form as a first-time visitor; nothing saved is ever reused.