Design Heuristics Flashcards
Visibility of system status
Keep users informed about what the system is doing - let the user know when it is loading, what changes were done, etc.
Match between system and real world
The system should speak the user’s language
- Use second person perspective: “you have…”
- Avoid technical terminology
- Relate concepts to real life - ecommerce “carts” for example
User control and freedom
Make things easy to abort, undo and change. Make mistakes easy to correct.
Consistency and standards
Similar things should behave similarly. Adhere to platform guidelines, choose consistent color, order, language, etc.
Internal Consistency
Designing operations to behave the same way within a system
External consistency
Designing operations/interfaces the same across applications/devices
Metaphorical consistency
Design consistent with similar real world objects
Recognition rather than recall
Make objects and actions visible so people don’t have to rely on memory
Error prevention
Design that eliminates error prone conditions with constraints, auto-fill, confirmation messages, etc.
Slips and Lapses
Errors caused by inattention
Slips are failures of execution
Lapses are failure of memory
Mistakes
Conscious errors due to a mismatch between the user’s mental model and the design
Flexibility and efficiency of use
Provide shortcuts, multiple ways of doing the same thing (right click + copy OR ctrl+c)
Aesthetics and minimalist design
Good graphic design and color choice - minimal information possible
Consider colorblind people
Help and documentation
Provide help and documentation (when necessary) - the interface should be self-explanatory if possible
