What are some good usability guidelines an average developer should follow? [closed]

Answer 1

Avoid modes. It's frustrating to a user when input works sometimes but not others, or does different things at different times.

Answer 2

Here are some simple rules:

• Fewer clicks are better.
• Frequently used features should be easier to find.
• Features for "advanced" users can be harder to find than the ones above.

Think about the number of mouse/keyboard clicks it takes a user to get to something.

PS - please don't tell the Microsoft Office 2008 people about this; the poor little guys would cry themselves to sleep tonight! :)

Answer 3

In addition to the other recommendations here, I'd recommend Designing Interfaces by Jenifer Tidwell as a good way of becoming familiar with UI conventions.
Also, The inmates are running the asylum By Alan Cooper is excellent for providing an insight into how to approach interaction design.

Answer 4

Read Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug. It is a great starting point, and an easy short read.

EDIT: This is mainly for web usability though, but it would still be a good read even if you are doing rich clients.

Answer 5

A good follow on to Don't Make Me Think is Robert Hoekman's Designing the Obvious. It's more focused on web applications, as opposed to web sites like in Krug's.