The document discusses how users interact with and learn tools. It notes that users develop mental models of tools as they use them, and that they typically only regularly use a select few tools that fit their preferences, ignoring many other available tools due to the effort required to learn new ones. It suggests that good software should provide many options but also cleverly hide unused tools to avoid overwhelming interfaces plagued by "bloat".

1. The zen of hidden
functionality

2. The usefulness of tools
• Tools are only useful if users know what they
do and how they work.
• Without a mental model, a tool is useless.
• Users iteratively develop progressively more
accurate mental models for tools as they use
them. This is called experiential learning.

3. There are lots of tools!
• There's more than one way to skin a cat
• There are many tools that can do the same job
in different ways.
• Different users prefer different tools.
• The more choices for tools that a user has, the
more likely said user will find a tool that fits his
or her preference perfectly

4. The user's favorite tools
• Tools are about as unique as the people who use
them.
• No single user uses all of the tools in a software.
Instead, most users use only a select few tools that
they prefer.
• The user learns to solve problems in terms of these
tools. For example, in call of duty, different users
choose different loadouts, and employ different
strategies based on their custom loadouts.

5. The rest of the tools
• The rest of the tools are cast aside, and are
usually ignored.
• The reason for this is because the time and
effort to learn a new tool is usually more than
that of using and practicing with a known tool.
• Ergo, people don't like learning new tools, even
if those new tools could save them time over
existing tools the long run.

6. Interface bloat
• Many a software suffer from interface bloat.
• This occurs when there are too many
unused tools taking up space on the
interface.

7. Tools hiding in plain
sight.
• When users are overwhelmed with too many
options at once, they tend to quickly tune out
the vast majority of options as noise.
• This is how tools - and more generally all
things, virtual or physical - get lost in plain
sight.

8. Too many tools?
• Good software provides users as many
options as possible.
• Getting rid of tools should avoided
whenever possible.
• Multiple tools need to be cleverly hidden
within single interface elements.