20 Guiding Principles for Experience Design
Whitney Hess' comprehensive framework for user experience design, emphasising user empowerment, clarity, and respect whilst creating products that serve human needs effectively.
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Stay out of people's way
Don’t interrupt users or create obstacles. Design intentional, obvious paths that allow people to complete tasks quickly and freely.
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Present few choices
More choices make decisions harder. Remove “nice to haves” and focus on necessary alternatives that greatly impact the outcome.
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Limit distractions
People can’t multitask effectively. Design for consecutive tasks rather than concurrent ones to keep people focused on the task at hand.
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Create a visual hierarchy that matches the user's needs
Give crucial elements the greatest prominence. Prioritise information and functionality to match real-world usage scenarios.
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Provide strong information scent
Use clear language and set proper expectations. If what people find doesn’t match their prediction, they’ll give up and go elsewhere.
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Provide signposts and cues
Never let people get lost. Keep them aware of where they are, where they came from, and where they’re going at all times.
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Provide context
Communicate how everything interrelates. Keep the design self-contained and don’t break people out of the experience unnecessarily.
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Avoid jargon
The experience is about the customer, not the business. Be clear, kind, and use widely understood terminology.
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Make things efficient
Prioritise efficiency for humans before computers. Streamlined design allows more to get done in the same time, demonstrating respect for customers.
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Use appropriate defaults
Preselected options minimise decisions and increase efficiency. Choose wisely—wrong defaults create more stress and processing time.
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Use constraints appropriately
Prevent errors rather than recovering from them. Proactively indicate what’s not possible to guide successful interactions, but don’t limit just for the machine’s sake.
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Make actions reversible
No design prevents all errors. Ensure people can easily fix mistakes. Undo is the most powerful control you can give.
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Reduce latency
Respond to requests quickly or people will feel you’re not listening. Delays in interfaces frustrate users.
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Provide feedback
Tell people you’re working and offer the next step. Design is a conversation, not a monologue.
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Use emotion
Ease of use isn’t the only measure—pleasure matters too. Add warmth, kindness, whimsy, or wit to make people feel engaged and energised.
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Less is more
Everything in the design should have a purpose. If it’s not adding to the experience’s positivity, remove it.
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Be consistent
Navigation, organisation, and metaphors must be predictable and reliable. Inconsistency feels disjointed and confusing. Consistency implies stability.
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Make a good first impression
You don’t get a second chance. Make people comfortable, set clear expectations, and ease them into the process.
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Be credible and trustworthy
Earn confidence by doing what you say you’ll do. Don’t overpromise and underdeliver. Set expectations appropriately and follow through.