101 UX Principles

Will Grant is a British UI/UX expert and a digital product designer. He is a web technology entrepreneur with over 25 years' experience, leading teams (and products) at the intersection of technology and usability. After his Computer Science degree, Will trained with Jakob Nielsen and Bruce Tognazzini at the Nielsen Norman Group – the world leaders in usable design. Since then, Will has overseen the user experience and interaction design of several large-scale web sites and apps, reaching over a billion users in the process. Will is a "design purist" and obsessed with building beautiful, compelling, and familiar products that customers intuitively know how to use.

Table of Contents
* Everyone Can Be Great at User Experience (UX)
* Be Strategic About Using These Principles
* Don't be afraid to ship something simple
* But Complexity Can Be Good for Some Users
* Use A/B Testing To Test Your Ideas
* Test with Real Users
* Nobody Cares About Your Brand
* Don't Use More Than Two Typefaces
* Users Already Have Fonts on Their Computers
* Use Type Size & Weight to Depict Information Hierarchy
* Use a Sensible Default Size for Body Copy
* Use an Ellipsis to Indicate That There's a Further Step
* Make interactive elements obvious and discoverable
* Make Buttons a Sensible Size and Group Them Together by Function
* Make the Whole Button Clickable
* Don't Invent New
* Search Should be a Text Field with a Button Labeled "Search"
* Sliders Should Be Used Only for Non-Quantifiable Values
* Use Numeric Entry Fields for Precise Integers
* Don't Use a Drop-Down Menu If You Only Have a Few Options
* Allow Users to Undo Destructive Actions
* Optimise your interface for mobile
* Use "Infinite Scroll" for Feed-Style Content Only
* If Your Content Has a Beginning, Middle and End, Use Pagination
* Allow Users to Accept or Reject Cookies with One Click
* Help users understand their next steps from "Empty States"
* Make "Getting Started" Tips Easily Dismissable
* When a User Refreshes a Feed
* Don't Hide Items Away in a "Hamburger" Menu
* Make Your Links Look Like Links
* Split Menu Items Down into Subsections
* Categorize Settings in an Accessible Way
* Repeat Menu Items in the Footer or Lower Down in the View
* Use Consistent Icons Across the Product
* Don't Use Obsolete Icons
* Don't Try to Depict a New Idea With an Existing Icon
* Never Use Text on Icons
* Always Give Icons a Text Label
* Use Device-Native Input Features Where Possible
* Streamline creating and entering passwords
* Always Allow the User to Paste into Password Fields
* Don't Attempt to Validate Email Addresses
* Respect Users Time and Effort in your Forms
* Pick a Sensible Size for Multiline Input Fields
* Use Animation with Care in User Interfaces
* Use the Same Date Picker Controls Consistently
* Make Your Input Systems Case-Insensitive
* Make Your Input Systems Case-Insensitive
* Chatbots are usually a bad idea
* If Your Forms Are Good
* Validate Data Entry as Soon as Possible
* If the Form Fails Validation
* Users Don't Know (and Don't Care) about Your Data Formats
* Pick the Right Control for the Job
* Allow Users to Enter Phone Numbers However They Wish
* Use Drop Downs Sensibly for Date Entry
* Capture the Bare Minimum When Requesting Payment Card Details
* Make it Easy for Users to Enter Postal or ZIP Codes
* Don't Add Decimal Places to Currency Input
* Make it Painless for the User to Add Images
* Use a "Linear" Progress Bar if a Task will Take a Determinate Amount of Time
* Show a Numeric Progress Indicator on the Progress Bar
* Show a "Spinner" if the Task Will Take an Indeterminate Amount of Time
* Contrast Ratios Are Your Friends
* If You Must Use "Flat Design" then Add Some Visual Affordances to Controls
* Avoid Ambiguous Symbols
* Make Links Make Sense Out of Context
* Add "Skip to Content" Links Above the Header and Navigation
* Never Use Color Alone to Convey Information
* If You Turn Off Device Zoom with a Meta Tag
* Give Navigation Elements a Logical Tab Order
* Write Clear Labels for Controls
* Make Tappable Areas Finger-Sized
* Let Users Turn off Specific Notifications
* Each aspect of a user's Journey Should Have a Beginning and End
* The User Should Always Know at What Stage They Are in Any Given Journey
* Use Breadcrumb Navigation
* Users Rarely Care About Your Company
* Follow the Standard E-Commerce Pattern
* Show an Indicator if the User's Work is Unsaved
* Let users give feedback
* Don't Use a Vanity Splash Screen
* Make Your Favicon Distinctive
* Add a "Create from Existing" Flow
* Make it Easy for Users to Pay You
* Give users the ability to filter search results
* Your Users Probably Don't Understand the File System
* Show, Don't Tell
* Be Consistent with Terminology
* Use "Sign in" and "Sign out"
* Make it clear to users if they're joining or signing-in
* Standardize the Password Reset Experience
* Write Like a Human Being
* Choose Active Verbs over Passive
* Search Results Pages Should Show the Most Relevant Result at the Top of the Page
* Pick Good Defaults
* Only use modal views for blocking actions
* Give Users The Experience They Expect
* Decide Whether an Interaction Should Be Obvious or Possible
* Does it Work on Mobile? is Obsolete
* Don't Join the Dark Side