7 unbreakable laws of user interface design – Designer Blog
THE LAWS OF INTERFACE DESIGN ON THE WEB apply to the FileMaker interface, as well. The lack of a good interface will cause users to not like using the solution–something any developer should seek to avoid.
Are you using Gmail? I am. Before the latest update, Gmail had a very clear text navigation on top of the page — Calendar, Drive, Sheets and other Google services were readily available at the click of a button.
Then Google decided to “simplify” and move everything behind an abstract icon. The result? Most people never noticed the icon and Gmail started to receive a flurry of support requests.
People avoid and often ignore things they cannot understand — that’s basic human nature. Avoid designing interface elements that make people wonder what they do, because no one will bother finding out.
The google example above is not isolated. It seems like once an interface has been perfected (or nearly so), many companies keep on paying to ‘improve’ it, sometimes to the point of greatly sacrificing usability and functionality. Read the whole thing.
7 unbreakable laws of user interface design – Designer Blog.