In Noah Wardrip-Fruin's Expressive Processing there is a description of the mysticism surrounding the computer program ELIZA's DOCTOR script. DOCTOR simulated a psychotherapist, and offered the user or "patient" a very simple interface to the primitive software. Through user research, it was found that a simple client interface would result in the user assuming there were more complicated processes going on behind the scenes. Most of ELIZA's scripts failed to captivate the viewer's belief in the system for more than a few minutes, but DOCTOR was able to keep users interested and involved for longer periods.

This principle of the simplified or magical interface is mirrored in many of Apple's mobile devices and software. Their Human Interface Guidelines for developers even request for the programmer to "avoid including settings in your application".