For example, users would appreciate a “Thank You” message and a proof of purchase receipt when they’ve completed an online purchase. Tell them what their action has led them to. As a good designer you should always seek to give human-readable and meaningful feedback. Poorly designed error messages often show an error-code that does not mean anything to the user.
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The Windows Media Player designers should have remembered Ben Shneiderman’s 3rd golden rule: Offer informative feedback.
A bad example we often see is when an error message shows an error-code instead of a human-readable and meaningful message.Īuthor/Copyright holder: Google, Inc. A good example of applying this would be to indicate to the user where they are at in the process when working through a multi-page questionnaire. For every action there should be appropriate, human-readable feedback within a reasonable amount of time. The user should know where they are at and what is going on at all times.
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For example, both Windows and Mac provide users with keyboard shortcuts for copying and pasting, so as the user becomes more experienced, they can navigate and operate the user interface more quickly and effortlessly. With increased use comes the demand for quicker methods of completing tasks. Enable frequent users to use shortcuts.Consistency plays an important role by helping users become familiar with the digital landscape of your product so they can achieve their goals more easily. Standardizing the way information is conveyed ensures users are able to apply knowledge from one click to another without the need to learn new representations for the same actions. Strive for consistency by utilizing familiar icons, colors, menu hierarchy, call-to-actions, and user flows when designing similar situations and sequence of actions.In his popular book "Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction", Shneiderman reveals his eight golden rules of interface design: His work is comparable to other contemporary design thinkers like Don Norman and Jakob Nielsen. This article will teach you to improve your work by integrating the 8 golden rules.īen Shneiderman (born August 21, 1947) is an American computer scientist and professor at the University of Maryland Human-Computer Interaction Lab. The visual embodiment of these rules is even more evident in the resulting popular interfaces they produce. The characteristics derived from Shneiderman’s golden rules can be recognized in various user interface guidelines produced by corporate giants like the companies mentioned above. Apple, Google and Microsoft are among some of the highly successful companies whose well-designed products reflect Shneiderman’s rules. Follow Ben Shneiderman’s 'Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design' if you want to design great, productive and frustration-free user interfaces.