There is something nobody tells you when you start using computers, phones, and tablets — and it would save a lot of confusion if they did. Every screen you have ever looked at, on every device you have ever used, is built on the same underlying structure. Once you understand that structure, navigating any new interface becomes a matter of looking for what you already know is there.

The structure is a grid. Not always a visible one — but always present. And it has rules.

The grid itself

Think of any screen as a rectangle divided into regions. Not randomly — there are conventions that almost every piece of software follows because they work, and because users learn them once and carry them everywhere.

The top of the screen is almost always navigation or identification — the name of what you’re looking at, a menu, a back button, or a search bar. The bottom of the screen on a phone is almost always actions — things you can do. The left edge is frequently navigation on a tablet or desktop. The right edge, or a corner, is often settings or overflow — the stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere.

The center of the screen is content. That’s where what you came for lives.

The three things that are always somewhere

No matter the device, no matter the app, you are almost always looking for one of three things when you get lost:

• A way to go back. On a phone it’s usually a left-pointing arrow, either on screen or as a physical button. On a browser it’s the back arrow in the top-left corner. On a desktop program it’s often in the menu bar under File or Edit. It is always somewhere. You are never truly stuck — only one level deep from where you came from.
• A menu. On a phone it’s often three horizontal lines (called a hamburger menu) or three dots. On a desktop it’s a row of words across the top. A menu is the directory of everything the thing can do. When you can’t find something, the menu is usually where to look.
• A home button or home screen. When all else fails, going home resets the situation. On a phone, the home button or swipe gesture takes you back to the starting point. On a browser, the home icon or just typing a new address starts fresh. You can always start over. Nothing you click by accident is permanent unless you specifically confirmed something.

Why new things feel unfamiliar but aren’t actually different

When someone gets a new phone and says they can’t figure it out, what they usually mean is that the specific location of familiar things has shifted. The back button is in a different spot. The settings menu has a different icon. The camera shortcut moved.

But the functions are all still there. You’re not learning something new — you’re finding the same things in a slightly different place. The grid is the same. The vocabulary is the same. The geography changed.

Giving yourself five minutes to just look around a new device — without trying to do anything in particular — tends to solve most of this. You’re not studying. You’re letting your eyes map the new layout onto the pattern you already know.

The three-dot menu and the hamburger menu

Two symbols appear so often they’re worth naming specifically. The three dots (arranged vertically or horizontally) almost always mean “more options” — things that didn’t fit on the main screen. Tapping them reveals a list of additional actions. The three horizontal lines (the hamburger menu, so called because it looks like a burger from the side) almost always means “navigation” — tap it to see where you can go within the app or site.

If you’re ever on a screen and can’t find what you’re looking for, tap the three dots and the three lines before concluding it doesn’t exist. It usually does. It’s just tucked away.

Confidence before competence

The biggest obstacle most people face with new technology isn’t the technology itself. It’s the assumption that touching the wrong thing will cause damage. It almost never will. Most interfaces are designed for exactly this — someone tapping around looking for something. You can back out of almost anything. You can undo almost anything. You can start over from home on any device at any time.

The grid is forgiving. Explore it.