10 Usability Slogans
1. Your best guess is not good enough
- Users behave in unexpected manner
- It is necessary to validate, it is no shame to revise
2. The user is always right
- The user is not stupid – it’s a design problem
3. The user is not always right
- You can’t just ask the users
- Users can’t predict how they will behave with future systems
- Users will have divergent opinions
4. Users are not designers
- N/AB don’t customize
- Customization itself needs an interface
- Too much of customization may lead to inconsistency
5. Designers are not users
- Knowledge is a one way street - it is difficult to remember, it is impossible to forget
6. Vice presidents are not users
- Client acceptance testing is not usability testing
7. Less is more
- Solutions could lie in taking things away
8. Details matter
- Interface design
- Information design
- Visual design
9. Help doesn’t
- Good help is no good on a bad interface
- It is better if the user can work without help
10. It is a process
- There is no right answer
[As learnt @ IDC, IIT Mumbai]
