ABSTRACT
This chapter explores theoretical design foundations and principles and their implications on customer relationship management (CRM) implementations. The principle of progressive disclosure, defined as "a strategy for managing information complexity in which only necessary or requested information is displayed at any given time" may well be considered a contrarian approach to designing effective solutions. An inverted pyramid represents a structure of information presentation where the most important information is presented first; then, subsequent information is presented in progressively less important order. The chapter explores design concepts including Hick's law, constraint, and the inverted pyramid, which, when embraced, all provide the potential to make real impacts on usability. These principles provide theoretical foundations to capabilities now present in most packaged CRM products. The chapter challenges conventional wisdom surrounding click counts by presenting the concept of progressive disclosure, providing a counterargument to embracing the click count reduction mandate myopically.
