Achieving and Balancing Consistency in User Interface Design

The Principle of Least Astonishment: “When two elements of an interface conflict or are ambiguous, the behavior should be that which will least surprise the human user.”—Wikipedia “Consistency is a fundamental design principle for usable user interfaces.” The Principle of Least Astonishment, in shorthand, encompasses what we, as designers, must achieve to ensure consistency in our designs. Consistency is a fundamental design principle [1] for usable user interfaces. But the thing that astoni...

July 19, 2010 · Read full article