Critical Path Newsletter

The Principles of Great UI Design

If there were simple rules you could follow and create a great interface every time, then there would be no bad interfaces. Users would find the features they’re looking for without hunting for them. Everything would always be intuitive. The people who write online help would have to hit the unemployment lines.

Fortunately for technical writers, but unfortunately for the rest of us, it’s not that easy. Solid rules you can follow to come up with great output every time just don’t exist.