Which is more important self consistency or apparent ease of use?
Which is more important:
Self consistency. In other words that the system works the same way for similar actions.
This allows users to reason about the system.
Or simplifying of each part so that they individually are as simple as possible.
This offcourse can paradoxically make the whole system more complex because its not self consistent.
If you are in a situation where choices do either of these things which one do you choose and why? How do you motivate this to your clients, who often fail to consider the big picture and see only the immediate apparent effect?