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My principles for product design

Things I strongly believe about product design and use all the time. Plus some heuristics that are practical and useful.

Clear design should…

Above all, be useful. Get the user's job done and get out of the way as fast as possible. But also while at it, it should…

Be unambiguous.

Only one possible interpretation should exist for every design element.

Be predictable.

Design elements should help people accurately and consistently predict what happens when they interact with your product.

Be helpful.

Design should help people answer all these questions:

  • Where am I?

  • How did I get here?

  • What can I do here and how do I do it?

  • Where can I go from here?

Be accessible.

Design elements should adhere to AAA or AA accessibility standards because it makes design better overall for everyone

Be aesthetic.

As a whole, the functionality of the product should be well executed. After that's achieved, there's no excuse to not make the product aesthetically beautiful

Be honest.

As a whole, the product should be free of jargon and should only promise what what it can achieve for the end user. No less, no more.

Some useful heuristics

I think of these every now and again. Not too hard, and not too often.

Name

Description

Example or usage

Anchoring bias

People rely heavily on the first piece of information they see

Explain the value your product provides in one sentence, not what your product does

Progressive disclosure

One bit of info at a time, as needed

Start simple, increase complexity as you go along

No walls of text

People https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-users-read-on-the-web/ on the web, they scan for keywords that stand out.

Don't hide critical information, surface it with highlights.

Peak/end Fallacy

People tend to remember the peak (positive or negative) of an experience and its end.

Memory is unreliable. We remember how something started, the strongest emotion we felt, and how it ended. Excellent design accounts for this

Confirmation bias

People find evidence that confirms what they think

Feedforward

When people are able to predict the outcome before they take action

Call it what users call it. Buttons hide actions that exist behind them. Views (screens) hide outcomes that are possible

Pseudo-set Framing

Tasks that are part of a group are more tempting to complete

Complete profile. Create community. Increase reputation.

Spotlight Effect

People erroneously believe that they're being noticed more than they are

Everyone is thinking about themselves most of the time. Design for that or around that

Goal Gradient Effect

Motivation increases as people get closer to their goal

Progress bars work

Von Restorff Effect

People remember things that stand out

When multiple similar objects are present, the one that differs from the rest is most likely to be remembered. Especially useful in guiding the user through a specific flow - make important info stand out (like CTAs)

Social proof

People adapt their behavior based on what others do

Familiarity bias

People prefer things they already know

People prefer to avoid losses

People prefer to avoid losses than win equivalent gains

Reciprocity effect

People feel the need to reciprocate when they receive something

Give value before asking for value

Survey Bias

People tend to skew answers towards what’s socially acceptable

Also, users change their behavior when observed

Priming

People remember the previous step/info which sets expectations

Cognitive load

Amount of effort required to complete something

Just-in-time complexity reveals help people move through even complicated context

Pareto Distribution

For many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

20% of platform users typically generate 80% revenue

Hick's Law

The time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices

Just try picking one of these to use

Miller's Law

People only keep 7 (+or - 2) items in their working memory

Shorter sentences are easier to recall. 5 or less nav items are easier to learn/remember. Text containers should have max-width: 680px with font-size: 16-21px (NOTE: ideal font-size for maximum legibility is 21px)

Proximity Effect

Elements that are close together are usually considered related

Group settings by their function to help people configure them faster

Feedback Loop

When people take action, they expect feedback to communicate to them what happened

Empty states, error states, success state, loading states are all opportunities to show people that they are in control

Occam's Razor

Among competing guesses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected

Especially useful in user research. Start with behaviors that you have the fewest number of assumptions on

Tesler's Law

Certain amount of complexity cannot be avoided

Simplicity for its own sake passes decision making to the end user (which increases friction)

Jacob's Law

People spend most of their time on other websites/apps

Don't re-invent common interactions like signup/login - your product should feel similar to others

Doherty Threshold

Productivity soars when a computer and its users interact at a pace (<400ms) that ensures that neither has to wait on the other.

Apps/websites have to respond to users within 400-900ms, otherwise they might not be used

Serial Positioning Effect

People tend to remember the first and last items in a series.

Zeigarnik Effect

People tend to remember and come back to unfinished tasks

Especially useful in onboarding users to complex products that have a steep learning curve

Fitt's Law

The larger something is, the easier it is to hit

The amount of time required for a person to move a pointer (e.g., mouse cursor) to a target area depends on the distance to the target divided by the size of the target

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