What should a developer know about interface design, usability and user psychology to create great software? [duplicate]

Answer 1

Learn to listen.

Users will tell what they want but not in the words that you're used to. Socialize, sit down, take your time and listen. Watch them work, ask questions. Bring up some ideas "How would you like...?" and listen to the replies. Don't assume that something would be better for them, ask them. Don't force them down a certain path because it's more simple to code.

Answer 2

If you really want your eyes opened, take a course in Human Factors Engineering.

Answer 3

I know the question is a bit old, but I'm surprised to see that no one mentioned Joel Spolsky's excellent article : User Interface Design For Programmers. It's definitely something every developer should read. There are no especially brilliant or original ideas in it, it's mostly common sense, but it did open my eyes on some not so obvious points...

Answer 4

Useful and effective interfaces are beautiful. Look at them as a UI designer, not as an art major. :-)

• Simplicity; as few choices as can accomplish the needs.
• Convention; follow patterns the users are already familiar with.
• Observation; watch the users, and smooth the places they have problems.
• Gentleness; write human-readable errors. Don't upset the users.
• Consistency; do things the same way everywhere in the application. Have one person write all of your text, or write a standard that text must meet.

Answer 5

Interfaces with lots of controls and options immediately on one screen can be overwhelming to users.

GMail has this slogan "Search, don't sort". The same principle can be applied to user interfaces. As you mentioned, users are already doing this themselves by googling for features.

Now the next step is to build support for feature search right into the application. Hit a keyboard shortcut, type a few keywords, and click on the feature you want to use. The IDE Insight feature in the upcoming RAD Studio 2010 does exactly that.

Answer 6

I suggest reading "The Design of Everyday Things" by Donald Norman.