Lesson 3: Interaction Design Principles

Interaction design relies on established rules called heuristics. For instance, Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics or Shneiderman's 8 golden rules are widely taught. These include principles like consistency and standards (keep your menus and labels uniform) and feedback (show progress bars or confirmations when users act). Another key principle is error prevention: design forms with constraints or confirmations to reduce mistakes (e.g. requiring confirmation before deleting a record). These guidelines come from decades of HCI research and are tested in many countries, including the Philippines (e.g. improving government website forms).

Apply design principles to layout and flow. For example, "place the most important information above the fold" so users see it right away. Use grouping and alignment to show relationships (buttons for navigation on left, content on right). Visual affordances should hint at functionality: e.g. buttons look 3D, links change color on hover. Standard UI elements (like a trash icon for delete) leverage users' existing mental models, which is easier than inventing new symbols. Familiarity matters: if all Filipino apps use a 'hamburger menu' icon, you probably should too.

Ready to apply this? The practice set below walks through exam-style problems with step-by-step solutions and a checklist of design heuristics.