We think in flows, and we’re used to the physical world. When a door opens, it swings on an arc. When something travels, you can see it move. When something falls, you can see it bounce.
Awkward UI is when a product designer doesn’t take these things into account. That means that somewhere along the line, some rules have been broken.
The rules of the UI Stack.
This fantastic article is really helpful to navigate the dizziness of the design process for large multi-state applications. It has some parallels with Everett McKay’s approach in UI is Communication.