Editing Interface bloat

{{multiple issues|{{context|date=April 2016}}
{{dicdef|date=April 2025}}
{{original research|date=November 2024}}
}}
{{Short description|Overload of elements on an interface}}
[[File:Interface Bloat Example.png|thumb|315x315px|An example of interface bloat|alt=An image depicting three red buttons of importance, clustered with tertiary or otherwise unnecessary buttons.]]

'''Interface bloat''' is a phenomenon in [[software design]] where an [[Interface (computer science)|interface]] incorporates too many (often unnecessary) operations or elements, causing issues such as difficulty navigating and usability.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Akiki |first1=Pierre |last2=Bandara |first2=Arosha |last3=Yu |first3=Yijun |name-list-style=and |date=24–27 June 2013 |title=The Open University's repository of research publications regarding minimizing the bloat in enterprise applications Conference Item |journal=Fifth ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems |location=London, UK |publication-place=London, UK |s2cid=2935087 }}</ref>
== Definition ==
While the term [[Software bloat|bloat]] can refer to a variety of terms in software design,<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Kaufman |first1=Leah |last2=Weed |first2=Brad |chapter=Too much of a good thing?: Identifying and resolving bloat in the user interface |date=1998-04-01 |title=CHI 98 Conference Summary on Human Factors in Computing Systems |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/286498.286693 |series=CHI '98 |location=New York, NY, USA |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=207–208 |doi=10.1145/286498.286693 |isbn=978-1-58113-028-7}}</ref> Interface bloat refers to the phenomenon where the user interface (UI) becomes unnecessarily complex and overloaded with features, options, or elements that can overwhelm users.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=McGrenere |first1=Joanna |url=https://graphicsinterface.org/proceedings/gi2000/ |title=Graphics Interface |last2=Moore |first2=Gale |date=15–17 April 2000 |publisher=Canadian Human-Computer Communications Society |isbn=0-9695338-9-6 |location=Montréal, Québec, Canada |pages=187–196 |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> This often leads to a cluttered experience, decreased usability, and increased difficulty for users to accomplish their tasks efficiently.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Do Computers Have to Be Hard to Use? |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/circuits/articles/28badd.html |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> Interface bloat can arise from various sources, including the addition of excessive functionality without proper consideration of user needs, the merging of disparate features, or pressure to include numerous options to cater to a broader audience.<ref name=":3" />

==References==
[[Category:Anti-patterns]]
[[Category:Computer programming folklore]]
[[Category:Software engineering folklore]]

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