Design
Ten Principles for Good Design
Good design...
- is innovative
- makes a product useful
- is aesthetic
- makes a product understandable
- is unobtrusive
- is honest
- is long-lasting
- is thorough down to the last detail
- is environmentally friendly
- is as little design as possible
Ten Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design
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Visibility of System Status
Keep users in the loop by providing timely and relevant feedback. This helps build trust and enables users to make informed decisions about their next steps.
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Match Between System and the Real World
Align with user's everyday language and experiences, promoting the transfer of skill from what people already know.
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User Control and Freedom
Offer users an "emergency exit" to easily undo actions or leave a process, giving them control and fostering confidence.
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Consistency and Standards
Use consistent terminology and follow established conventions. This minimizes user confusion and cognitive load, making your design more intuitive.
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Error Prevention
Eliminate or minimize errors by designing safeguards and asking for confirmation before executing actions with serious consequences.
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Recognition Rather than Recall
Minimize cognitive load by making elements and options visible, reducing the amount of information users must remember.
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Flexibility and Efficiency of Use
Cater to both novice and expert users by providing shortcuts and allowing customisation to make interactions more efficient.
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Aesthetic and Minimalist Design
Eliminate unnecessary elements that don't serve a functional purpose, keeping the user focused on the most important.
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Help Users Recognise, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors
Provide error messages in plain language that precisely indicate the problem and suggest a solution, making it easier for users to recover.
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Help and Documentation
While a design should be self-explanatory as far as possible, provide just-in-time contextual & searchable documentation for users who need additional guidance.
Continuous Improvement Design Process
- Challenge and refine requirements
- Try to remove part or process
- Simplify and optimise
- Accelerate cycle time
- Automate
References
- Ten Principles for Good Design by Dieter Rams
- Nielsen, Jakob (2005), Ten usability heuristics
- Starbase Tour with Elon Musk, Everyday Astronaut
- Iteration at SpaceX, GitLab Handbook