Coding with Jesse

Predictable design

Jonathan Snook just posted a nice example of why you should stick with what's predictable. When designing, there's a lot of temptation to go against the grain, to do something a little different than everybody else does it. Except, it makes your interface less predictable. And predictability is key for user friendliness. Whether it's underlines on hyperlinks, or simple navigation titles, you'll usually end up winning more points for usability than you ever will for creativity.

Published on January 24th, 2006. © Jesse Skinner

About the author

Jesse Skinner

Hi, I'm Jesse Skinner. I'm a web development coach & consultant. I teach web development teams how to scale up their server infrastructure, improve automated testing and monitoring, reduce costs, and modernize their legacy systems. I focus on empowering teams through customized training and coaching.

Feel free to email me. I'm eager to hear about your challenges and see how I can make your life easier.