MENTAL MODEL · M13098

Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design

SystemsHigh supportHuman-Computer Interaction

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Updated 2026-08-13

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

Proposed by Ben Shneiderman in Designing the User Interface (1986), the eight rules are: strive for consistency; enable frequent users to use shortcuts; offer informative feedback; design dialogs to yield closure; prevent errors and offer simple error handling; permit easy reversal of actions; support an internal locus of control; and reduce short-term memory load. They are heuristics rather than a formal specification, derived from empirical work in human factors and intended as a checklist applied throughout design, from early layout choices to the wording of error messages.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Auditing a screen: Walk each rule in turn and name the specific element that violates it. - Costing a change: Check whether a proposed feature breaks consistency or removes an undo path. - Briefing engineers: Convert a vague usability complaint into one of the eight named rules.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Each rule targets a stable limit or tendency in human performance. Consistency lets users transfer learned actions to new screens instead of relearning them; shortcuts serve experts without slowing novices; feedback and undo turn irreversible actions into cheap experiments, lowering the cost of every click; closure signals when a task is finished; and reducing memory load keeps the interface, not the user, responsible for holding state. Together they shrink the gap between what users intend and what the system does.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

List the three most frequent user actions and check each has a consistent location and shortcut. 2. Pick one irreversible action and add an undo path plus a clear completion signal. 3. Find a step where users must remember earlier content and display that content on screen instead. 4. Watch a new user attempt the core task and record where they stall and whether error messages help.

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

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Source support: Explicit

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en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_ShneidermanZH · Explicit
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