ockhams-equivalent-designs

Functional equivalence is determined by comparing user goal achievement, outcome quality, user cost, edge-case handling, and downstream system state across both designs. You must define explicit goals and perform a dimension-by-dimension equivalence check, including accessibility and internationalization, to ensure similarity is honest.

Apply Occam's razor to choose a simpler UI pattern only when functional equivalence is honest and defensible across all evaluated dimensions, including edge-case handling, accessibility, and downstream effects. Never simplify if hidden differences exist in performance, discoverability, or future flexibility.

The best way to compare a guided wizard versus a full-page form is to evaluate whether outcomes are equivalent for the specific user goal and context, checking if the wizard genuinely improves critical edge cases or if the simpler form suffices across accessibility and error recovery.

Surface hidden differences between competing API designs by listing concrete differences and quantifying impact across performance, error recovery, discoverability, accessibility, internationalization, and future flexibility. This ensures apparent similarity does not mask meaningful architectural divergences.

Before making a product tradeoff decision, check user goal achievement, outcome quality, user cost, edge-case handling, and downstream system state. Include accessibility and internationalization in your dimension-by-dimension equivalence check to ensure the tradeoff is disciplined and defensible.