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Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

cs.umd.edu

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Re: Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

#11

Post by ivan_gammel »

infotainment wrote: post #6

Some good stuff here, but generally I’d disagree with: > Prevent errors: As much as possible, design the interface so that users cannot make serious errors; for example, gray out menu items that are not appropriate and do not allow alphabetic characters in numeric entry fields (Section 3.3.5 This sounds nice in theory, but in practice too many guardrails like this will just confuse users. “Why can’t I type text here?…

> It’s often better to allow mistakes but also offer immediate explanatory feedback if something is incorrect.

That is just another form of error prevention: in the end erroneous data will not be submitted.

Re: Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

#12

Post by joshuaheard »

"For example, users should not have to retype an entire name-address form if they enter an invalid zip code but rather should be guided to repair only the faulty part."

This is my biggest pet peeve, and I still see it. It should also be true for multi-page forms if you are going back and forth between form pages.

"Erroneous actions should leave the interface state unchanged, or the interface should give instructions about restoring the state."

Designers seeking to save space on small screens like phones and watches are increasingly relying on icons. However, many icons are unfamiliar or hard to decipher. Sometimes, the only way to figure it out is to click on it. Every such icon should have a way to go back to the original state if a mistake is made.

Re: Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

#13

Post by staplers »

Angostura wrote: post #8
graypegg wrote: post #7

A designer I worked with years ago had a great explanation for why consistency is important. It’s not about a limited colour palette or a careful selection of fonts no one will ever notice. Chasing the specifics makes horrible software. Some people equate less diversity in their UI to more consistency. It’s about letting someone become an expert in your software. Microsoft office was always his example. People pride…

It's possibly one of the reasons why so many people were bent out of shape when MS introduced the adaptive ribbon shenanigans that tried to 'help' by only showing the most likely options. Really knocked my ability to find stuff

Expectation should precede consistency in order of importance.

Meaning, if a new user is learning your software, how would they expect the next [flow] to go?

Consistency often shapes expectations but when things go how you expect them to, you don't need to learn new mental models.

Re: Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

#14

Post by Jtsummers »

infotainment wrote: post #6

Some good stuff here, but generally I’d disagree with: > Prevent errors: As much as possible, design the interface so that users cannot make serious errors; for example, gray out menu items that are not appropriate and do not allow alphabetic characters in numeric entry fields (Section 3.3.5 This sounds nice in theory, but in practice too many guardrails like this will just confuse users. “Why can’t I type text here?…

> It's often better to allow mistakes but also offer immediate explanatory feedback if something is incorrect.

Which is what the rule actually describes.

> If users make an error, the interface should offer simple, constructive, and specific instructions for recovery. For example, users should not have to retype an entire name-address form if they enter an invalid zip code but rather should be guided to repair only the faulty part. Erroneous actions should leave the interface state unchanged, or the interface should give instructions about restoring the state.

I'm very confused by some of the attempts at "gotchas" in this discussion that are just restating what the list (and context paragraphs) already say as if it didn't say it.

Re: Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

#15

Post by ivan_gammel »

georgeecollins wrote: post #3

Not sure that Strive for Consistency should be a golden rule of all interface design. Software maybe. But the reality is the world is inconsistent and humans mental model of tasks are inconsistent. Sometimes its better to design an interface that conforms to the world or the mental model. As a random example: You could have an interface on a car that is almost entirely touch screens. You might see replacing the steer…

> You could have an interface on a car that is almost entirely touch screens. You might see replacing the steering wheel with a touch screen interface. That would be consistent but not a good mapping to people's mental model.

Consistency means that users can expect the same behavior from elements with the same specific purpose. When you put steering wheel and infotainment system in the same classification bucket, it is not consistency, it is excessive abstraction.

Re: Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

#16

Post by ivan_gammel »

bbor wrote: post #4

Can an expert explain some context here?? This seems like a less-well-phrased version of Norman’s principles, which were the ones I was taught in HCI class. The author is clearly some sort of textbook author so they know what they’re talking about, but these principles seem like they were written without considering past work. Like “short term memory load” seems like a phrase that would be replaced by “cognitive load…

I was not familiar with this author, but they mentioned that these principles were defined around 1985 — before Nielsen‘s heuristics. A lot of things were different 40 years ago, so language may indeed seem a bit archaic.

Re: Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

#17

Post by bbor »

ivan_gammel wrote: post #16
bbor wrote: post #4

Can an expert explain some context here?? This seems like a less-well-phrased version of Norman’s principles, which were the ones I was taught in HCI class. The author is clearly some sort of textbook author so they know what they’re talking about, but these principles seem like they were written without considering past work. Like “short term memory load” seems like a phrase that would be replaced by “cognitive load…

I was not familiar with this author, but they mentioned that these principles were defined around 1985 — before Nielsen‘s heuristics. A lot of things were different 40 years ago, so language may indeed seem a bit archaic.

Ah okay saw the textbook publish date and stupidly assumed that was the overall date. Thanks, makes sense! In that case this is a fascinating look into the past and a testament to how solid these principle are, since they’ve endured and popped up in similar lists.

Re: Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

#18

Post by [deleted] »

infotainment wrote: post #6

Some good stuff here, but generally I’d disagree with: > Prevent errors: As much as possible, design the interface so that users cannot make serious errors; for example, gray out menu items that are not appropriate and do not allow alphabetic characters in numeric entry fields (Section 3.3.5 This sounds nice in theory, but in practice too many guardrails like this will just confuse users. “Why can’t I type text here?…

[deleted]

Re: Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

#19

Post by jonstewart »

bbor wrote: post #4

Can an expert explain some context here?? This seems like a less-well-phrased version of Norman’s principles, which were the ones I was taught in HCI class. The author is clearly some sort of textbook author so they know what they’re talking about, but these principles seem like they were written without considering past work. Like “short term memory load” seems like a phrase that would be replaced by “cognitive load…

Ben Schneiderman is an ACM Fellow and CS professor emeritus of the University of Maryland-College Park. These 8 principles are from his 1986 book. He’s done a lot of work in infovis and HCI and is the inventor of the treemap visualization.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Shneiderman

Re: Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)

#20

Post by jonshariat »

staplers wrote: post #13
Angostura wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possibly one of the reasons why so many people were bent out of shape when MS introduced the adaptive ribbon shenanigans that tried to 'help' by only showing the most likely options. Really knocked my ability to find stuff

Expectation should precede consistency in order of importance. Meaning, if a new user is learning your software, how would they expect the next [flow] to go? Consistency often shapes expectations but when things go how you expect them to, you don't need to learn new mental models.

UX designer here. I've learned that these changes are a delicate balance between allowing existing user to remain experts while improving the retention of new users.

This can be accomplished by making small changes over time that break up all the new info a user has to learn and avoiding the big UI reveal which people universally hate because all that new learning is required at once and they need to get stuff done.

Often times its required because as a product moves into mass market phase of its life cycle, it needs to be simple to use for lots of people, which mean it doenst work great for any specific goup.

Which is why I'm really in favor of allowing customizations to the user where appropriate. It allows experts to have control over their flow and new users can enjoy the UX optimized for them.

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