Best Design Guidelines -Company: Google.com

Best Design Guidelines

                                

Company: Google.com

ANSWER

Introduction

            Designing for users’ satisfaction is an awesome and challenging exercise, and achieving this majorly lies in the system interface; giving the user an inviting and pleasant environment while s/he uses the system. This development makes Usability engineering a globally recognised specialization in the field of Software engineering.

In achieving a successful user-interface development, four pillars are involved; these are: user-interface requirements, guidelines documents and processes, user-interface software tools, and expert reviews and usability testing (Ben & Catherine, 2010).

The design guidelines documents are to be compiled not only to answer the usability questions, but to also see to the enforcement of the proposed design features and ideas. It stands as a checklist for expert in reviewing the compliance of the interface with the stated requirements.

Nielsen, (2003) stated ten (10) homepage design guidelines that are worthy of investing in by usability engineers; these are:

1.      Emphasising the primary offer of your site, distinguishing it from other key competitors;

2.      Allowing the homepage size to be adjustable by the users;

3.      Distinguishing visited and unvisited links with colours;

4.      Using graphics to show real content and not just to decorate the homepage;

5.      Including a tag line that summarily discusses what the site is meant for;

6.      Making access to all recently added features on the home page;

7.      Inclusion of short site description in the window title;

8.      Not using a heading label for the search area, instead the “Search” button;

9.      Being precise in any information given;

10.  Non-inclusion of an active link to the homepage on the home page itself.

Google.com: An appraisal

According to the User Experience Designer for Google Apps; Jon Wiley outlined the following important principles for designing interfaces at Google. Added are the explanation attached. These are:

1.      Usefulness: The interfaces are designed by focusing on peoples’ lives, work, and dreams.

2.      Fast: It loads fast with reckon to every millisecond.

3.      Simplicity: This is the art of beauty. The interfaces are easily understandable by the users.

4.      Engaging: It engages beginners and equally attracts the experts.

5.      Innovative: It dares to be innovative.

6.      Universal: It is designed for global consumption.

7.      Profitable: It is income generating, meeting today’s and tomorrow’s business needs.

8.      Beautiful: The design is made to be eye delighting without distracting the mind.

9.      Trustworthy: The systems must be worthy of people’s trust.

10.  Personable: The system must add human touch.

References

Ben, S. & Catherine, P. (2010). Designing the User Interface (Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction). 5^th Edition. US. Pearson Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-0-321-60148-3.

Nielsen, J. (2003). Alertbox. Retrieved from: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20031110.html