Keep it simple. Now there's an original idea! While "keep it simple" is a well-established design cliché, I believe that simplicity is the most important quality of good user interface design. While saying that it's important to keep your user interfaces simple might seem a bit, well, simplistic, much of the user interface development process involves simplifying and refining the interface in some way. Refinement has been defined as the process of obtaining simplicity. Typical user interface refinements include eliminating unnecessary screen clutter; eliminating unnecessary features; eliminating unnecessary windows, dialog boxes, or message boxes; and simplifying how the user interacts with the program. Remember—no bad user interface has ever been made into a good interface by adding stuff.
TIP
Simplicity is the most important quality of good user interface design. Much of the user interface development process involves simplifying the interface in some way.