From Computing and Software Wiki

Contents 1 Overview 2 Standards 2.1 Titles and Icons 2.2 Shortcuts 2.3 Sizing 2.4 Prompts 2.5 Asthetics 2.6 Formatting 2.7 Mouseovers 2.8 User Input 2.9 Text 2.10 Menus 2.11 Controls 2.12 Windows 2.13 Pointers 3 Principles 3.1 Ten Usability Heuristics 3.2 Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design 4 Design 5 Techniques 6 Human Factors

Overview

TALK ABOUT TRIAL AND ERROR, SIMPLICITY,ETC

NO INDUSTRY STANDARDS BUT THERE ARE HEURISTICS AS A GENERAL GUIDLINE

(Use http://www.isii.com/ui_design.html)

Standards

TAKE FROM APPLE AND MICROSOFT AND MORE CRAP
http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGIntro/XHIGIntro.html
http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/DeveloperTools/Conceptual/IB_UserGuide/Introduction/Introduction.html
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511258.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms737844(VS.85).aspx
http://www.usabilitynet.org/tools/r_international.htm

http://www.beta-research.com/standards.html <---GOOD RESOURCE

Titles and Icons

Shortcuts

Sizing

Prompts

Asthetics

Formatting

Mouseovers

User Input

Text

Menus

Controls

Windows

Pointers

Principles

These principles are in nature heuristics of interface design. They are guidelines that "should" be used in the design of interfaces, since there is no one industry standard.

Ten Usability Heuristics

Dr. Jakob Nielsen, a user adovacate and principal of the Nielsen Norman Group for enhancing user experience, outlines the following heuristics;

• Visibility of system status
• Relate system and real world
• User Control and freedom
• Consistency and standards
• Error Prevention
• Recognition rather than recall
• Flexibility and effciency of use
• Aesthetic and minimalistic design
• Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
• Help and documentation

Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design

From the book Designing the User Interface, Ben Shneiderman outlines eight key rules of good interface design;

• Strive for consistency
• Enable frequent users to use shortcuts
• Offer informative feedback
• Design dialog to yield closure
• Offer simple error handling
• Permit easy reversal of actions
• Support internal locus of control
• Reduce short-term memory load

Design

(Use http://www.ambysoft.com/essays/userInterfaceDesign.html)

Techniques

(Use http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/ahtutorials/interface.html)

Human Factors

(Use http://www.beta-research.com/standards.html)