A user interface is like a joke

A drawing of a cartoon man pointing upwards

Heads up! This post was written in 2014, so it may contain information that is no longer accurate. I keep posts like this around for historical purposes and to prevent link rot, so please keep this in mind as you're reading.

— Cory

When I hear a simile like this, it's hard to not share. It's not so much an analogy as it is a good rule of thumb:

A user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it's not that good.

And I've heard some websites tell pretty bad jokes...