Psychology · Applicable to any design duration

Shneiderman’s Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design

Shneiderman's Eight Golden Rules are a set of principles for designing user interfaces that are easy to learn, efficient to use, and satisfying for users. They focus on consistency, usability, and user control.

When to use Shneiderman’s Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design

These rules are most effective when designing any type of user interface, including websites, applications, and learning platforms.

How Shneiderman’s Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design works

Facilitators can use these rules as a checklist when designing digital learning experiences or interfaces. They can guide discussions on usability and help participants evaluate existing designs.

Phases of Shneiderman’s Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design

  1. Strive for consistency: Maintain consistent layouts, terminology, and actions throughout the meeting; this helps participants quickly understand and apply information without confusion.
  2. Enable frequent users to use shortcuts: Provide experienced participants with efficient shortcuts (e.g., keyboard shortcuts, advanced features) to speed up their workflow and avoid unnecessary steps.
  3. Offer informative feedback: Give clear and timely feedback about actions and changes during the meeting, so participants understand the results of their input and the meeting's progress.
  4. Design dialog to yield closure: Structure meeting segments with clear beginnings, middles, and ends, providing a sense of accomplishment and direction for participants.
  5. Offer simple error handling: Provide clear and easy-to-understand error messages and solutions when mistakes occur, so participants can quickly recover and continue without frustration.
  6. Permit easy reversal of actions: Allow participants to easily undo actions (e.g., 'undo' features, the ability to revert to a previous state), reducing anxiety about making mistakes.
  7. Support internal locus of control: Give participants a sense of control over their experience and contributions during the meeting, empowering them to actively participate and influence outcomes.
  8. Reduce short-term memory load: Minimize the amount of information participants need to remember at any one time by providing clear visual cues, summaries, and easily accessible resources.

Key principles

  • Usability
  • Efficiency
  • User control
  • Consistency
  • Error prevention

Best for

  • UI design
  • UX design
  • Web development
  • Application development

Considerations

  • Rules may need to be adapted based on specific user needs and context
  • Balancing consistency with innovation can be challenging

Attribution & sources

Developed by Ben Shneiderman

Primary source

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