Features of a good design

Don Norman suggests the fundamentals to a good design are:

Affordance

- The perceived and actual properties of the things primarily those fundamental properties that determine just how the things could possibly be used.

Signifiers

- The signifiers are marks or sounds that communicate what actions are possible and how they should be done.

Feedback

Feedback requires sending back user information about what system input has occurred. It communicates the result of an action.

Usability is essential to a good design

- Characterized as effective, efficient, and satisfying to the user.

- Usable interface: the user can understand what input will lead to the desired output.

- Usable design also requires that the output of the user's actions be visible.