Design principles describe our North Star. They describe our approach to design and define key themes that define our desired experience. Design principles must be more than aspirational - they must be practical, actionable and measurable.
Usability
We must make it as simple as possible for users to understand context, discover relevant content and complete important tasks.
Discoverability
Users must always be able to understand content, context and the available options for further action based on their needs. We must identify and adhere to proven, effective patterns for navigation and way finding.
Interaction
Interaction should always be clearly indicated, intuitive and predictable. We must always apply well understood patterns, offer clear guidance and display feedback to users when they interact.
Accessibility
We need to consider a broad demographic of ages, cultures and digital savviness. We shall use the Nielsen Norman AA level accessibility standard as our accessibility benchmark.
Quality
We must deliver experiences that convey quality in order to improve user perception of the brand, build trust and position ourselves favourably against competitors.
Visual design
Each view of our product should be well considered for visual hierarchy, balance and comprehension in each context. We must follow a systemic approach to the use of colour, typography, imagery and other UI elements, with an emphasis on product imagery and white space.
Interaction design Interactions convey a sense of tacitly quality to the user. Quality interactions build an additional sense of trust and confidence in the overall experience.
We must always consider the effective use of motion both within and between contexts. Our interactions should always incorporate smooth, intuitive transitions.
Efficiency
Our experiences should be as fast to design and code as possible in order to save both design and development effort while increasing agility.
Simplicity
Our product experiences should be no more complex than they have to be in order for users to complete their tasks efficiently.
We must always use and maintain the smallest number of UI patterns possible in order to support effective task completion and organisational efficiency.