The use of guidelines in interface design

We studied the use of an evolving interface style book to evaluate the role of such guidelines in the development of siyle-conforming interface desi M. Although P the designs were judged JO .bc gene~al y col~orming, study participants had sgmficant ddlicxdty m interpreting the guidelines. our designers were manifestl { task oriented and itn atient with extraneous matcria. If' The depended heav" y on the pictorial examples, often f to t E exclusion of the accompanying text. We conclude that. dependency on guidelines should be minimized, and that guidelines should be developed primarily to complement toolkits and interactive examples, focussing on information intrinsically unavailable through those vehicles,