====== Design Principles ======

Author: Michelle McCausland

This page contains the notes taken from the UX training course "UX Foundation Online" provided by [[http://uxtraining.com|UXTraining.com]]

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  * Design principles & patterns - high level guidelines

**Perceivable**
  * Should be understood by viewing
  * What can it do
  * What is it asking me to do 
  * What do I do first

**Predictable**
  * Risk-reward calculations
  * How long it takes
  * What you need to do
  * What you're going to get
  * What happens next

**Affordances**
  * Visual cues - traffic lights, door handles  
  * If you need instructions for very simple tasks then your design has failed
  * Harness natural qualities

**Conventions**
  * Established interface patterns
  * Saving time and mental energy
  * Conventional symbols

**Feedback**
  * Confirmation / error messages
  * Show user that the interface is responding to their actions
  * can often be very minimal

**Constraints**
  * Limit your options to keep you focused
  * Filling in forms
  * Less likely to get sidetracked from task

**Forgiveness**
  * Humans are error prone
  * How to be forgiving - strong affordances, reversibility of actions, confirmations, warnings, help

**Hick's Law**
  * The time it takes to make a decision depends on the number of options present
  * Don't overload users with choices
  * Let them move through your software