Concepts accurately simplified and combined often potentiate powerful paradigms—new ways of thinking that have the power to create improved results.

UI (“user interface”) quality is sometimes summed up by the title of one of the key books about it: “Don’t make me think”. This means the user knows:

  1. What the results of actions will be;
  2. How to do what they need to do;
  3. What can be done is easily discovered.

UX (“user experience”) quality is an enjoyable UI, sometimes conveyed as an “app-like experience”.

One of the purposes of communication is to share perception. Perceptions grasped without analysis (“don’t make me think”) are easier to apply, remember, and combine with other concepts. So perceptions conveyed that delight or spark curiosity are the UX of communication. This is in part the concept behind a “click-bait headline”.

To improve communication, concentrate on mastering the UX of perception—all parts must seem instantly graspable, and have a quality that produces interest or desire in the recipient.

Perception—there’s an app for that.