Finger memory: why Craigslist rules

Being user experience designer myself it’s hard for me to admit that genuine user interest always will win over visual language, prioritization, proximity, contrast, etc. We as designers tend to over complicate things despite our desire to make interface easier to use. We often think of users as entities incapable of learning and making corrections to their behavior as needed. Despite perceived “bad” design Craigslist rules as it offers a meaningful advantages to it’s users who will know after a first couple of visits the location of all links they are interested in. It’s a similar behavioral pattern to typing up a password – your fingers have memory and hit the keys accordingly without you necessarily reading.