Universal design principles

Universal design principles

• 10 Principles For Design In The Age Of AI

  Yves Béhar

  A manifesto for designing AI-enhanced products that augment rather than replace human capabilities, with a focus on discretion, long-term relationships, and removing complexity.

• 10 Principles of Good Web Design

  Vitaly Friedman

  Ten principles for creating user-friendly websites that reduce cognitive load, guide attention, and follow established conventions for better usability.

• 10 Principles of Organization Design

  Gary L. Neilson, Jaime Estupiñán, and Bhushan Sethi

  Ten guidelines for reshaping organisational structures to fit business strategy, avoiding common pitfalls of restructuring.

• 10 Psychological Usability Heuristics

  Susan Weinschenk and Jordi Sánchez

  Susan Weinschenk and Jordi Sánchez's psychological framework for designing intuitive interfaces that work with human cognitive limitations and natural behaviors rather than against them.

• 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design

  Jakob Nielsen

  Jakob Nielsen's foundational usability principles for evaluating user interface design, providing systematic guidelines for creating intuitive, efficient, and error-preventing digital products.

• 20 Guiding Principles for Experience Design

  Whitney Hess

  Whitney Hess' comprehensive framework for user experience design, emphasising user empowerment, clarity, and respect whilst creating products that serve human needs effectively.

• 4 Design Principles to Create Products That Work for Everyone

  Adam Silver

  Four principles Adam Silver uses daily to avoid bad UX, focusing on inclusivity, obviousness, user control, and performance.

• 5 Guiding Principles for Experience Designers

  Whitney Hess

  Whitney Hess' essential framework for experience designers, focusing on problem understanding, ethical responsibility, and creating intuitive solutions that genuinely help people.

• 5 Principles for the wearable revolution

  Fjord

  Look around. There’s no denying it – wearables have arrived. But with their arrival also comes a slew of design challenges. Since the design community is often generous, we’d like to pay it forward by sharing five principles on creating great wearable design. These aren’t rigid rules; just five thoughts to help teach (and maybe entertain) you. Enjoy!

• 5 rules for incorporating AI tech into design

  Tom Castle

  Tom Castle's framework for integrating artificial intelligence into design processes, providing practical guidance for creating AI-enhanced products that serve human needs while maintaining ethical considerations and transparency.

• 7 Principles of Rich Web Applications

  Guillermo Rauch

  My approach is to examine the usage of JavaScript exclusively from the lens of user experience (UX). In particular, I put a strong focus on the idea of minimizing the time it takes the user to get the data they are interested in. Starting with networking fundamentals all the way to predicting the future.

• 8 Design Principles for Organizational Transformation

  Xplane

  My approach is to examine the usage of JavaScript exclusively from the lens of user experience (UX). In particular, I put a strong focus on the idea of minimizing the time it takes the user to get the data they are interested in. Starting with networking fundamentals all the way to predicting the future.

• 8 fundamentals for user friendly product development

  Devhouse Spindle / Luuk Hartsema

  Devhouse Spindle and Luuk Hartsema's framework for creating user-friendly products through consistency, functionality, engagement, focus, honesty, minimalism, and delightful interactions.

• Adobe Spectrum Design Principles

  Adobe

  Design Principles of Adobe's new Scalable Design System.

• Basic Principles of NUI Design

  Dan Saffer

  Dan Saffer's foundational framework for natural user interface design, focusing on touch interactions, gesture recognition, and creating intuitive experiences that work with human physical behaviors.

• Design in the Era of the Algorithm

  Josh Clark

  Ten principles for designing data-driven products responsibly, balancing algorithmic power with human judgement and user control.

• Design principles for reducing cognitive load

  Jon Yablonski

  Seven principles for reducing the mental effort required when using websites, helping users stay focused on their goals.

• Designing for voice interfaces

  Brian Colcord

  Brian Colcord's framework for creating effective voice interfaces, emphasising compelling use cases, conversational design, and user-centred approaches to voice interaction design.

• Don Norman's Principles of Design

  Don Norman

  Six foundational principles from The Design of Everyday Things that focus on how people understand and interact with systems. Together, they reduce guesswork and make actions feel predictable.

• Eight Principles of Information Architecture

  Dan Brown

  Dan Brown's foundational framework for information architecture, providing principles for organizing content effectively to create intuitive, user-centered digital experiences.

• Eight Principles of Natural User Interfaces

  Rachel Hinman

  Rachel Hinman's framework for creating natural user interfaces that emphasize the joy of interaction over task completion, focusing on performance aesthetics and intuitive human-computer relationships.

• Elegant, efficient and sophisticated

  Jeff Gothelf

  Jeff Gothelf's design philosophy emphasizing elegance, efficiency, and sophistication in creating products that balance aesthetic appeal with functional effectiveness.

• First Principles of Instruction

  M. David Merrill

  An instructional theory based on a broad review of many instructional models and theories.

• First Principles of Interaction Design

  Bruce Tognazzini

  Foundational interaction design principles from Apple's first human interface designer, covering everything from anticipation to visible navigation.

• Front-End Principles for Designers

  Jon Yablonski

  Designers that code is becoming increasing common in the web community; and while not a requirement, this skill can have an substantial effect on the quality of the designer’s work. Is that to say that a designer must know how to code to create great digital experiences? This mind set is dogmatic and fails to ask the right question, which is what principles do designers need to understand to create better designs?

• Guiding Principles for Design Tools

  Patrick Hebron

  Principles for the creation of open-ended design tools

• Inclusive Design Principles

  The Paciello Group

  These Inclusive Design Principles are about putting people first. It's about designing for the needs of people with permanent, temporary, situational, or changing disabilities — all of us really.

• Kotti Design Principles

  Kotti

  Kotti's user experience framework focusing on keen engagement, transparency, timeliness, and intuitive design that makes complex systems accessible and effective.

• Laws of Simplicity

  John Maeda

  Glass is fundamentally different than existing mobile platforms in both design and use. Follow these principles when building Glassware to give users the best experience.

• Manifesto for the Experience of Things

  Dan Frost

  The Internet of Things is the convergence of many technologies. Technologies change our lives when the experience of them fits. This Manifesto learns from the best physical and digital product design to inform good design in the coming generation of connected products. While this is informed by the many IoT standards and platforms, this is not a technical document. It is a description of the experience - how the technology will fit into our lives. This is, we believe, how the IoT ecosystem of technologies should be experienced.

• Manifesto: Rules for standards-makers

  Dave Winer

  Seventeen rules for creating standards that actually work, prioritising interoperability and real-world implementation over theoretical perfection.

• Material Design

  Google

  Google's comprehensive design system creating adaptive, material-based interfaces with meaningful motion, responsive interactions, and consistent visual hierarchy across platforms.

• Principles and Patterns for Rich Interaction

  Theresa Neil & Bill Scott

  Theresa Neil and Bill Scott's framework for creating rich, interactive web experiences through direct manipulation, contextual interfaces, and engaging user interactions.

• Principles for Accessibility

  Sarah Horton & Whitney Quesenbery

  If you are in charge of the user experience, development, or strategy for a web site, A Web for Everyone will help you make your site accessible without sacrificing design or innovation. Rooted in universal design principles, this book provides solutions: practical advice and examples of how to create sites that everyone can use.

• Principles for Considerate Products

  Alan Cooper

  Alan Cooper's framework for creating considerate products that take interest in users, are deferential to their needs, and create respectful, user-centered experiences.

• Principles for Designing Systems for Expert Users

  Natalia Rozycka

  Natalia Rozycka's framework for creating systems that serve expert users effectively, emphasizing domain understanding, efficiency, and supporting professional workflows.

• Principles for Independent Archives

  Luke Bacon

  Seven principles for small, independent archiving projects focused on longevity, openness, and collaboration within the wider network.

• Principles for Prototyping

  Todd Zaki Warfel

  Todd Zaki Warfel's framework for effective prototyping, emphasizing audience understanding, flexible planning, expectation management, and practical sketching techniques.

• Principles for the Agile Architect

  Agile architect framework emphasizing people-centric design, effective communication, simplicity, and adaptability for creating flexible, responsive software architectures.

• Principles of Calm Technology

  Amber Case

  Principles for designing technology that informs without overwhelming, moving smoothly between the periphery and centre of our attention.

• Principles of Ethical Web Development

  Adam Scott

  As web developers, we are responsible for shaping the experiences of user's online lives. By making choices that are ethical and user-centered, we create a better web for everyone.

• Principles of No UI

  Golden Krishna

  Look around. There’s no denying it – wearables have arrived. But with their arrival also comes a slew of design challenges. Since the design community is often generous, we’d like to pay it forward by sharing five principles on creating great wearable design. These aren’t rigid rules; just five thoughts to help teach (and maybe entertain) you. Enjoy!

• Principles of Product Design

  Joshua Porter

  Joshua Porter's framework for creating successful products, emphasising usefulness as the primary goal, experience-driven design, and user-centred approaches to product development.

• Principles of User Interface Design

  Joshua Porter

  Foundational guidelines for creating clear, usable interfaces that enable interaction and keep users in control. These principles emphasise clarity, attention conservation, and designing for actual human behaviour.

• Principles of Web Development

  Jens Oliver Meiert

  Seven principles for professional web development, emphasising quality, simplicity, and long-term thinking over quick fixes.

• Principles of pervasive retail application design

  Jonathan Morgan

  The findings presented on this site identify fundamental principles for designing applications for computationally-enhanced retail environments. These principles are distilled from over two hundred research studies and papers on pervasive technology, human-computer interaction, ubiquitous computing, retail strategy, inclusive design, and related fields.

• Principles of product and service design

  Niklaus Gerber

  Thirteen principles for product and service design, covering user focus, iteration, accessibility, and continuous improvement.

• Responsive Principles

  Paul Robert Lloyd

  Three principles for building a web that remains accessible to all, starting from adaptability and embracing user diversity.

• SOLID Design Principles

  Robert C. Martin

  In object-oriented computer programming, SOLID is a mnemonic acronym for five design principles intended to make software designs more understandable, flexible and maintainable.

• Service Design Principles

  Tim Manning

  Tim Manning's framework for service design covering general principles, process design, and organisational design to create effective, user-centered service experiences.

• Shneiderman's "Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design"

  Ben Shneiderman

  Ben Shneiderman's foundational framework for creating intuitive interfaces, emphasizing consistency, shortcuts, feedback, and user control to design effective, user-friendly systems.

• Ten Principles for Good Design

  Dieter Rams

  Back in the late 1970s, Dieter Rams was becoming increasingly concerned by the state of the world around him: “An impenetrable confusion of forms, colours and noises.” Aware that he was a significant contributor to that world, he asked himself an important question: is my design good design? His answer is expressed in his ten principles for good design.

• Ten Principles of Simplicity

  Jay Selway

  What does "simple" actually mean? People can always tell when something is simple, uncomplicated, elegant, not overworked, or a number of other near-synonyms, but can rarely articulate why something is simple. Because simplicity is inherently subjective, achieving it pretty tricky. Fortunately, the discipline of experience design has emerged as a means to help the world realize its need for simplicity and what it takes to achieve it.

• Ten Rules for Web Startups

  Evan Williams

  Evan Williams' practical guidance for web startup founders, focusing on simplicity, focus, and user-centric approaches to building successful online businesses with minimal resources.

• Ten Things We Know to be True

  Google

  We first wrote these 10 things when Google was just a few years old. From time to time we revisit this list to see if it still holds true. We hope it does—and you can hold us to that. On the desk of every new Googler is a copy of these.

• The 10,000 Year Clock

  Danny Hillis

  These are the principles that Danny Hillis used in the initial stages of designing a 10,000 Year Clock. We have found these are generally good principles for designing anything to last a long time.

• The 12 Realistic Principles of Agile UX

  Guiseppe Getto

  Guiseppe Getto's practical framework for integrating UX design into agile development processes, balancing customer experience, technological change, and team collaboration.

• The Four C's of Form Design

  Jessica Enders

  Four principles for designing forms that people can actually complete, focusing on clarity, brevity, intelligence, and helpfulness.

• The Key Minimalist Graphic Design Fundamentals

  Heury & Heury

  Heury & Heury's framework for minimalist graphic design, emphasizing simplicity, clarity, and purposeful reduction while maintaining effective communication through strong visual hierarchy.

• The Lean Startup Principles

  Eric Ries

  Startup success can be engineered by following the process, which means it can be learned, which means it can be taught.

• The Meta Principles for Visual Usability

  Tania Schlatter

  Glass is fundamentally different than existing mobile platforms in both design and use. Follow these principles when building Glassware to give users the best experience.

• The Nine Principles Of Design Implementation

  Tom Greever

  This is not a checklist. Instead, it is a set of broad guidelines meant to preserve an underlying value. It can be used as a guide for someone working on implementation or as a tool to evaluate an existing project. So, whether you’re reviewing code, auditing CSS or interviewing candidates for a role on your team, these principles should provide a structure that transcends specific techniques and results in a common approach to implementing design.

• The Ten Principles of Inclusive Web Design

  Sandi Wassmer

  Inclusive Design is where innovation and imagination flourish. Meeting the needs of the widest variety of people does not inhibit creativity. It opens our minds and inspires excellence.

• The Ten Tenets of Chindogu

  International Chindogu Society

  Ten rules defining the Japanese art of creating "unuseless" inventions—objects that appear to solve problems but are too absurd for actual use.

• The UX Axioms

  Erik Dahl

  Erik Dahl's comprehensive framework of user experience axioms providing fundamental truths for creating people-centered design solutions across all digital products.

• The Zero (0) Complexity Business IT Design principles

  Maikel Mardjan

  Architecture and design principles for preventing unnecessary complexity in business IT systems, focusing on simplicity, human needs, and maintainability.

• Voice Interface Design Principles

  Annabel Acton

  Annabel Acton's framework for creating intuitive voice interfaces, emphasizing radical simplicity, deep empathy, clear communication, and graceful error handling for effective voice experiences.

• Voice User Interface Principles

  Stephen Gay

  Stephen Gay's framework for creating conversational voice interfaces, emphasizing approachability, mutual understanding, and natural dialogue patterns for effective VUI design.

• What is a good standard?

  Bert Bos

  Why doesn't HTML include tags for style? Why can't you put text inside SMIL? Why doesn't CSS include commands to transform a document? Why, in short, does W3C modularize its specification and why in this particular way? This essay tries to make explicit what the developers in the various W3C working groups mean when they invoke words like efficiency, maintainability, accessibility, extensibility, learnability, simplicity, longevity, and other long words ending in -y.

• What the Heck Is Inclusive Design?

  Heydon Pickering

  Naming things is hard. And I don’t just mean CSS class names and JSON properties. Finding the right term for what we do with the time we spend awake and out of bed turns out to be really hard too.

• Willem Sandberg

  Willem Sandberg

  Willem Sandberg's poster design philosophy emphasizing joy, bold color use, viewer engagement, and social responsibility for creating impactful public visual communication.