Designing Scaffolded Interfaces for Enhanced Learning and Performance in Professional Software

TL;DR

This paper introduces ScaffoldUI, a scaffolded interface design method for professional software like Blender, which reduces complexity, guides users, and improves learning and task performance, especially for beginners.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel scaffolded interface design approach and a technical pipeline for implementation in professional software, validated through user studies with beginners and experts.

Findings

Significantly reduces perceived task load.

Supports task performance with structured guidance.

Enhances learning by connecting concepts and tools.

Abstract

Professional software offers immense power but also presents significant learning challenges. Its complex interfaces, as well as insufficient built-in structured guidance and unfamiliar terminology, often make newcomers struggle with task completion. To address these challenges, we introduce ScaffoldUI, a method for scaffolded interface design to reduce interface complexity, provide structured guidance, and enhance software learnability. The scaffolded interface presents task-relevant tools, progressively discloses tool complexity, and organizes tools based on domain concepts, aiming to assist task performance and software learning. To evaluate the feasibility of our interface design method, we present a technical pipeline for scaffolded interface implementation in professional 3D software, i.e., Blender, and conduct user studies with beginners (N=32) and experts (N=8). Study results demonstrate that our scaffolded interfaces significantly reduce perceived task load caused by interface complexity, support task performance through structured guidance, and augment learning by clearly connecting concepts and tools within the taskflow context. Based on a discussion of the user study findings, we offer insights for future research on designing scaffolded interfaces to support instruction, productivity, creativity, and cross-software workflows.