I read this wonderful article in the New York Times last week on "The Familiar Place" and even though I was actively reading the article, all I could think about was how the article was so valuable for User Experience Designers to consider. The idea of "familiarity" is core to good user experience design. It's one of the basic tenets of Steve Krug's book, Don't Make Me Think. Experiencing "familiar" concepts online, helps people navigate more comfortably throughout an online experience whether its their first time or 100th time.
The idea of allowing familiarity in a Web experience to be "an artifact of consciousness" is really key to intuition and ease of use. If it's familiar, the "concept" has been experienced before - and one would hope successfully.
Klinkenborg's article explains that even the unfamiliar can broaden [the users] experience and ability to navigate more comfortably in the process and in the future.
The interesting shared element here in my adaptation of the article and the literal story told by Klinkenborg is that technology also facilitated the path taken.
Looking at designing good UX online inherently relies upon technology to facilitate, simplify and guide a user from one point to the next.
What you can create as far as familiar concepts along the path helps make the experience more familiar and friendlier for future visits.
See what's familiar to you and what works. At the end of the day, you are creating "conscious artifacts" that faciliate good usable design.
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