Design Principles

AND ELEGANT

• If it doesn't matter cut it – minimize clutter and text and use whitespace to make the UX engaging and friendly.
• A little color goes a long way – use small amounts of color because a little goes a long way.
• A picture is worth 1,000 words – use icons, graphics, and charts to bring the UX to life.
• Don't miss the forest for the trees – start with a summary and let users click or choose to see details.
• Consistency is attractive – Make elements, components, and styles consistent to build trust with users.

FLOW AND DESTINATION

• The destination – make the ultimate destination or real purpose of the system meaningful and obvious.
• Are we there yet? – remind users how far it is until they reach the end.
• Break it up – allow the users to progress through bite-sized steps of a complex process.
• What's next? – make it obvious what the user should do next.

MEANINGFUL, PROACTIVE, AND TIMELY

• Don't wait for the ship to come in, swim to it – proactively give meaningful information to users.
• Help users solve real problems – make the system supply quality solutions to real problems.
• Give it to them when they need it –use data to alert users to important milestones, moments, and events.
• A little goes a long way – proactive information should be infrequent enough to not be annoying.

MEMORABLE AND INTERACTIVE

• Life is more fun if you play games – Build tasteful elements of play into the system to engage users.
• Create positive feelings – UI is the saddle, stirrups, and reins. UX is the feeling you get riding the horse.
• Give praise and reward – Motivate users by offering genuine praise for completing tasks and steps.
• Put users in control – Give users options and choices so they feel in control.

REDUCE WORK

• Consider the pace – create a comfortable pace so users don't burn out.
• Respect people's time – use automation and simplicity to show respect for people's time.
• Don't make me think – the UI should be elegant and make the UX simple, intuitive, and fast.

• Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.
• Good art inspires, good design motivates.
• Great design is cutting all unnecessary details.
• A user experience is like a joke, if you must explain it, it's not that good.
• If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.
• Good design is as little design as possible.
• Good design is a lot like clear thinking made visual.
• Whitespace is like air – it is necessary for design to breathe.
• Have no fear of perfection, you'll never reach it.
• Design adds value faster than it adds cost.
• Styles come and go. Good design is a language not a style.
• Less is more work.
• There are 3 responses to a design – Yes, No, and Wow! Wow is the one to aim for.