Buxton's Rule ⚓

08 Mar 2015

I consider myself a UX enthusiast. I consider that term to aptly describe my interest in UX. As I’m deeply involved in many UX and design decisions, I try to be well read on design and UX principles. While reading a discussion about iPhone prototypes on HN in June ‘12, I came across this comment:

Goes to show what it takes to achieve excellence: lots of trial and error. Produce at least 3 alternatives for every design decision (Bill Buxton agrees).

— mstuherl

It sounded so basic, yet often I see designers trying to defend their first design, because it seems good enough to them. No good design is ever born at the first step. Just like any other process, it takes multiple iterations to perfect it.

I recently got in touch with Morgan (mstuherl on HN), and thanked him for his comment. Here’s what he said when I told him I wanted to dub it mstuherl’s rule:

Hah! My name’s Morgan, so you can call it Morgan’s Rule if you like, but it comes from Bill, so Buxton’s rule would be more appropriate. His book Sketching User Experience contains yet more wisdom!

So thats what I’m calling it:

Further Reading

• Iteration in the Design of the Human-Computer Interface - Bill Buxton
• Sketching User Experiences by Bill Buxton
• Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug (My first recommendation to every software dev/designer)

Published on March 08, 2015