Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition

William Lidwell is the Chief R&D Officer at Avenues: The World School, where he leads teams tasked with conducting research in education and the learning sciences; the development of new educational curricula, programming, and technologies; and the architecture and design of new campuses around the world. The co-author of Universal Principles of Design and The Pocket Universal Principles of Design, he has written other books in a variety of disciplines, including design, education, and management. His online lectures on the psychology of color are available at TheGreatCourses.com, and his online courses on the universal principles of design and logo design are available at LinkedInLearning.com. He lives in Houston, Texas.

• Contents, Alphabetical Introduction001 Abbe Principle002 Accessibility003 Ackoff’s Law004 Aesthetic-Usability Effect005 Affordance006 Alignment007 Anchoring008 Anthropomorphism009 Aposematism010 Apparent Motion011 Appeal to Nature012 Archetypes, Psychological013 Archetypes, System014 Attractiveness Bias015 Baby-Face Bias016 Back of the Dresser017 Biophilia Effect018 Box’s Law019 Brooks’ Law020 Brown M&M’s021 Bus Factor022 Cathedral Effect023 Causal Reductionism024 Chesterton’s Fence025 Clarke’s Laws026 Classical Conditioning027 Closure028 Cognitive Dissonance029 Color Effects030 Color Theory031 Common Fate032 Comparison033 Confirmation034 Confirmation Bias035 Consistency036 Constraint037 Contour Bias038 Control039 Convergence040 Conway’s Law041 Cost-Benefit042 Creator Blindness043 Crowd Intelligence044 Death Spiral045 Defensible Space046 Depth of Processing047 Design by Committee048 Desire Line049 Development Cycle050 Diffusion of Innovations051 Don’t Eat the Daisies052 Dunbar’s Number053 Dunning-Kruger Effect054 Entry Point055 Error, Design056 Error, Human057 Expectation Effects058 Exposure Effect059 Face Detection060 Face-ism Ratio061 Factor of Safety062 Faith Follows Function063 Feature Creep064 Feedback065 Feedback Loop066 Fibonacci Sequence067 Figure-Ground068 First Principles069 Fitts’ Law070 Five Hat Racks071 Five Tenets of Queuing072 Flexibility Tradeoffs073 Flow074 Forgiveness075 Form Follows Function076 Framing077 Freeze-Flight-Fight-Forfeit078 Gall’s Law079 Gamification080 Garbage In – Garbage Out081 Gates’ Rule of Automation082 Gloss Bias083 Golden Ratio084 Good Continuation085 Groupthink086 Gutenberg Diagram087 Habituation088 Hanlon’s Razor089 Hick’s Law090 Hierarchy of Needs091 Highlighting092 Horror Vacui093 Icarus Matrix094 Iconic Representation095 Identifiable Victim Effect096 IKEA Effect097 Inattentional Blindness098 Interference Effects099 Inverted Pyramid100 Iron Triangle101 Iteration102 Kano Model103 KISS104 Knowing-Doing Gap105 Learnability106 Left-Digit Effect107 Legibility108 Levels of Invention109 Leverage Point110 MAFA Effect111 Magic Triangle112 Maintainability113 Mapping114 Maslow’s Hammer115 MAYA116 Mental Model117 Miller’s Law118 Mimicry119 Minimum-Viable Product120 Mnemonic Device121 Modularity122 Nirvana Fallacy123 No Single Point of Failure124 Normal Distribution125 Not Invented Here126 Nudge127 Number-Space Associations128 Ockham’s Razor129 Operant Conditioning130 Orientation Sensitivity131 Paradox of Great Ideas132 Paradox of Unanimity133 Pareto Principle134 Peak-End Rule135 Performance Load136 Performance vs. Preference137 Perspective Cues138 Perverse Incentive139 Phonetic Symbolism140 Picture Superiority Effect141 Play Preferences142 Poka-Yoke143 Premature Optimization144 Priming145 Process Eats Goal146 Product Life Cycle147 Progressive Disclosure148 Progressive Subtraction149 Propositional Density150 Prospect-Refuge151 Prototyping152 Proximity153 Readability154 Reciprocity155 Recognition over Recall156 Redundancy157 Reverse Salient158 Root Cause159 Rosetta Stone160 Rule of Thirds161 Saint-Venant’s Principle162 Satisficing163 Savanna Preference164 Scaling Fallacy165 Scarcity166 Selection Bias167 Self-Similarity168 Serial Position Effects169 Shaping170 Signal-to-Noise Ratio171 Similarity172 Social Proof173 Social Trap174 Status Quo Bias175 Stickiness176 Storytelling177 Streetlight Effect178 Structural Forms179 Sunk Cost Effect180 Supernormal Stimulus181 Survivorship Bias182 Swiss Cheese Model183 Symmetry184 Testing Pyramid185 Threat Detection186 Top-Down Lighting Bias187 Uncanny Valley188 Uncertainty Principle189 Uniform Connectedness190 User-Centered vs. User-Driven Design191 Veblen Effect192 Visibility193 Visuospatial Resonance194 von Restorff Effect195 Wabi-Sabi196 Waist-to-Hip Ratio197 Wayfinding198 Weakest Link199 WYSIWYG200 Zeigarnik EffectCreditsAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsIndex