Just about everyone who uses a digital device has heard of "Moore's Law"–– "the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits will double every year." The number of circuits that were crammed on to a circuit back in 1965, when Moore came up with his law, was 50 –– today, that number is approaching one billion. That exponential growth has made the whole digital revolution possible.

At about the same time, another computer pioneer named Calvin Moorer came up with an interesting law of his own. His law stated: "An information retrieval system will tend not to be used whenever it is more painful and troublesome for a customer to have information than for him not to have it."

According to Peter Morville, Mooers' Law becomes more relevant with every advance of Moore's Law.

As we're inundated with a flood of information and data, our ability to cope with and use it becomes severely compromised. How many of us have given up trying to program that VCR or other new digital marvel with its 300 page manual? Technology moves much faster than evolution.

Moores' Law points to the conflict between what's possible and what people really want. It's this cognitive friction that's made usability, user experience and user centered design a vital part of the design process. Since it's World Usability Day, this might be an appropriate time and place to step back and think about how we can help reduce that friction.