Principle of least astonishment

Hello there! Today we're going to learn about the principle of least astonishment, which is a fancy way of saying that things should work in ways that make sense and don't surprise us too much.

Let's say you're playing with a toy car, and you push it forward. It goes forward, just like you expect it to. But what if you push it forward and it starts spinning around in circles instead? That would be pretty surprising and confusing, right?

Well, the same idea applies to things like computer programs, websites, and other things we use every day. When we interact with these things, we expect them to work in certain ways. For example, we expect that clicking on a button will do what the button says it will do. We expect that scrolling down a page will show us more content, not take us to a completely different page.

When things work the way we expect them to, it's easy and intuitive for us to use them. But when things work in unexpected ways, it can be confusing and frustrating. The principle of least astonishment helps designers and developers create things that are easy and intuitive to use.

So, when you're playing with your toys, your computer, or anything else, remember the principle of least astonishment. Things should work in ways that make sense and don't surprise us too much.