Human Computer Interaction

Table of Contents

Usability principles

Nielsen usability principles:

  1. Visibility of system status
    • always keep user informed about what’s happening
    • like a progress bar
  2. Match between system and real world
    • speak the users’ language
    • use words, phrases, concepts familiar to user
  3. User control and freedom
    • allow users to easily escape from places where they accidentally appeared
    • like ‘emergency exits’
  4. Consistency and standards
    • don’t make the user think
    • avoid making them wonder whether different shit is actually the same shit
  5. Help users recognise, diagnose, and recover from errors
    • write errors in plain language
    • suggest a way of solving it.
  6. Error prevention
    • prevent errors whenever possible
  7. Recognition is better than recall
    • make stuff recognisable
  8. Flexibility and efficiency of use
    • provide accelerators invisible to novices
    • give more experienced users more tools
  9. Aesthetic & minimalist design
    • don’t include irrelevant or rarely needed information
    • hide the stuff
  10. Help and documentation
    • provide info that can be easily searched
    • give concrete steps that can be easily followed