Renowned user experience researcher Ben Shneiderman highlights his influential “Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design.” At the University of Maryland’s Human-Computer Interaction Lab, Shneiderman has spent decades studying how people interact with technology.
The golden rules guide for designers to create intuitive and helpful interfaces. Things like consistency, catering to all users’ abilities, offering feedback, and confirming actions help people navigate systems confidently without stress or mistakes. Designing in a way that allows undoing steps and keeping users in control respects how folks prefer to interact as well.
Shneiderman acknowledges the rules require adapting to specific contexts. However, they provide a strong starting point for any designer to develop experiences people find natural and engaging rather than confusing or limiting. His work continues pushing the field forward to build technology that enhances our lives.
