In terms of User Interface Design and methodologies what areas of research stand out the most?

Question

Hi I'm pretty new to UI designing and was wondering what methodologies/ stuff to think about etc stand out as being useful.

I'm interested in common design principles, laws that apply for human computer interaction, i've heard of one that applies to the spacing of buttons and other GUI objects etc.

Thanks for any replies.

Answer 1

First Principles of Interaction Design from AskTog is a good start. Actually you could do worse than keeping on reading the whole interaction design section.

If you want to go deep Togs book recommendations are great. The Humane Interface by Jef Raskin is another interesting read. And, if you do any web design: Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug.