Eight Golden Rules

Eight Golden Rules: Rule 8 - Reduce Short Term Memory Load

A regrettable consequence of getting older is that both our senses and our memory tend to be less acute.  While I scoffed at this notion when I heard about it in HCI class back in my 20s, it is now a fact of my daily life.  The National Institute of Health (NIH) describes how changes in…

Eight Golden Rules: Rule 4 - Design Dialogs to Yield Closure

Ben Shneiderman explains design dialogs with the following: "Sequences of actions should be organized into groups with a beginning, middle and end. Informative feedback at the completion of a group of actions gives operators the satisfaction of accomplishment, a sense of relief, a signal to…

Eight Golden Rules: Rule 3 - Provide Informative Feedback

The third rule of Shneiderman's Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design is as follows: "For every user action, there should be system feedback. For frequent and minor actions, the response can be modest, whereas for infrequent and major actions, the response should be more substantial. Visual…