June 2010 Edition
Computer Science Department, University of Cape Town
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The difference between these is that standards are high in authority and limited in application, whereas design guidelines are low in authority and are more general in application.
The best user interface guidelines are high level and contain widely applicable design principles. The designer who intends to apply these principles should know which theoretical evidence supports them and apply the guidelines at an early stage of the design life cycle.
| Standards | Guidelines |
|---|---|
| High Authority | Lower Authority |
| Little overlap | Conflicts, overlap, trade-offs |
| Limited application - e.g. display area | Less focused |
| Minimal interpretation-little knowledge required | Interpretation required -expert HCI knowledge |
National and international bodies most commonly set interactive system design standards such as British Standards Institution (BSI), the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).
Design guidelines can be found in various forms, for example, journal articles, technical reports, general handbooks, and company house style guides. A good example to this is the guidelines produced by Smith and Mosier (1986) . An example of company house style guides is Apple's Human Interface Guidelines. Standardisation in interface design can provide a number of benefits.