The user interfaces depicted on lego bricks

The internet is still wonderful, a fact exemplified by The UX of LEGO Interface Panels, an article by George Cave col0lecting the tiny computer screens, keyboads and dials found on Lego bricks.

All of our approaches so far: organisation by features, operation or technology, have been grounded in properties of the system, not of the user. Organisation by use-case is the antidote to this, a clustering based on the daily routines and tasks of the user.

Imagine arriving for work each day at the LEGO body scanner factory. Grouping the switches by task (prepare machine, load body, process scan...) would mean splitting up the radiation and scanner buttons into many different regions. More complex for the computer, but more streamlined for the operator. As the designer, only you and your users will be the judge of what works best.