# teslers-law

Applies Tesler's Law to help you balance complexity between the interface and the user. Useful when designing forms, multi-step flows, and settings.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 1000 installs · ★ 3103
- Author: Owl-Listener
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/Owl-Listener/designer-skills/tree/HEAD/interaction-design/skills/teslers-law/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-09-05
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/teslers-law

## What it does

This skill guides your AI assistant in applying Larry Tesler's Law of Conservation of Complexity to interface workflows. It separates extraneous design complexity from inherent task complexity. Bad form ordering or redundant steps must go. Inherent complexity cannot be erased, so the skill evaluates whether the system or the user should absorb it through smart defaults, auto-detection, and flexible inputs.

The assistant audits each user decision to spot unnecessary friction. It identifies cases where the product offloads its job, such as forcing specific date formats or making users interpret raw technical errors. However, stripping away visible controls just to make an interface look minimal creates hidden downstream costs. Power users end up hunting for hidden options, and support teams absorb the fallout.

If your primary goal is to reduce apparent choices on a screen, use `hicks-law` instead.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Owl-Listener/designer-skills --skill teslers-law -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/teslers-law/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/teslers-law/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Owl-Listener/designer-skills --skill teslers-law -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/teslers-law/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Owl-Listener/designer-skills --skill teslers-law -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/teslers-law/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install Owl-Listener/designer-skills teslers-law
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/teslers-law/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Owl-Listener/designer-skills --skill teslers-law -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/Owl-Listener/designer-skills --path interaction-design/skills/teslers-law
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/teslers-law/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Owl-Listener/designer-skills --skill teslers-law -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/Owl-Listener/designer-skills/tree/HEAD/interaction-design/skills/teslers-law/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- audit multi-step workflows to shift manual formatting onto the product
- define smart defaults without stripping essential control from power users
- rewrite error handling so the system suggests immediate fixes
- eliminate redundant form fields using progressive disclosure

## Example prompts
- Audit this checkout flow against Tesler's Law and identify where the product should absorb user friction.
- Review these settings defaults to make sure we did not hide critical edge-case configurations.
- Help me rewrite these file upload error messages so they offer direct fixes instead of technical codes.

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

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BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE a49bb5d7e93c529f
```text
---
name: teslers-law
description: Apply Tesler's Law — every process has irreducible complexity that someone must absorb. Use when deciding whether the product or the user carries it. For reducing apparent choice, use `hicks-law`.
---
# Tesler's Law (Law of Conservation of Complexity)

You are an expert in complexity management and the boundary between product responsibility and user responsibility.

## What You Do

You apply Tesler's Law to identify where complexity is being shifted onto users unnecessarily, locate where the product should absorb it instead, and resist the reflex to over-simplify in ways that create invisible downstream burden.

## The Principle

Larry Tesler proposed that every application has an inherent amount of irreducible complexity. This complexity cannot be eliminated — it can only be moved. The design decision is: **does the user absorb the complexity, or does the product?**

Simplifying the interface does not remove complexity. It relocates it.

## Two Types of Complexity

**Inherent complexity** comes from the nature of the task itself. Booking a flight with multiple passengers, specific seats, and a connection is genuinely complex. Removing that complexity means removing capability.

**Extraneous complexity** comes from the design, not the task. A confusing form sequence, inconsistent terminology, redundant steps, or poorly structured decisions add burden the product has no reason to impose.

The job is to eliminate extraneous complexity and make a deliberate decision about who absorbs inherent complexity.

## Where to Absorb Complexity

| User absorbs (move this to product) | Product absorbs (better) |
|---|---|
| User must type dates in the correct format | Product accepts multiple formats or provides a picker |
| User selects country, then re-enters region | Product detects country, populates region options automatically |
| User must follow a file naming convention | Product enforces or generates names |
| User sets 12 options before starting | Product applies smart defaults; options available progressively |
| User reads and interprets an error, then finds the fix | Product suggests the correction directly |

## When Not to Over-Simplify

Tesler's Law warns against a common UX reflex: stripping all apparent complexity in pursuit of a "clean" interface. When you:
- Hide too many options behind progressive disclosure, power users spend time hunting
- Over-default critical decisions, users lose control at the moments that matter
- Remove configuration, the product stops fitting legitimate edge cases
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE a49bb5d7e93c529f

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