These are the rules I live by and firmly believe in.

SIMPLE and EFFECTIVE

CONTENT is KING

FORM follows FUNCTION

DESIGN is IMPORTANT

SIMPLE and EFFECTIVE

Whether it is a web design or instructional design or the design of anything at all, if something is simple AND effective then it is conducive to being highly useful. It is an expansion of the old KISS principle. Many times there is a trend to make things more and more complicated, more and more busy, more and more cluttered. Do we really need that? Maybe some people like things that are piled up on top of each other willy-nilly, with lots of choices and lots of options for things you don't really need. I for one like it the other way. Interfaces that are overly busy and full of unneeded options are distracting to me and slow me down from what I really want to do. I am not saying that something should be so simple that it is not useful. I am saying it should be as EFFECTIVE in accomplishing the job at hand as anything else, while being SIMPLE at the same time. A good example is the Google search web page. It has a box where you type in what you want to search on, and a button to start the search. That is all that is there and that is all you need, a perfect simple and effective situation. OK there is another button called "I'm Feeling Lucky" that will take you directly to the #1-ranked page for your search term. If it were me, I would get rid of that button. It is superfluous and not needed. All you need is the Search button! The top-ranked page will be there anyway, at the top.

CONTENT is KING

The idea that "Content is King" is nothing new, you can do a search on those words and see many discussions. It is most often used in the context of web pages, but it applies to anything really. There are those who take the opposite view and say that the "design" is the most important, because if the design is very bad, then users will immediately go away and won't read the content. This is certainly true, and design is indeed very important, no doubt about it (keep reading the rules). But the idea that Content is King doesn't take away from that if you think about it. Even if the design is great, it is pretty much meaningless unless there is some significant content there that the user has a true interest in. In most cases people want to get a job done, or find information they are looking for, and are not interested in spending time admiring the beauty of design. Exceptions of course are artistic endeavors and the like, but here I am talking about the business of getting the job done.

FORM follows FUNCTION

This is another well-known idea that originated within the process of architecture and then industrial design. It is based on the concept that every part of a design should have a useful function. In other words, there should not be extra or superfluous features that are tacked on for no real reason. There are various arguments as to whether this statement has any real meaning, with some people arguing that an Apple iPod shows that this is not valid because it's simple design does not immediately communicate everything that it can do. This is true, but still the iPod represents something that maintains a design that is simple and without any add-ons that don't contribute to what it actually does. Beyond the basics of the physical layout it is useful for all the things it can do because of an effective user interface.

DESIGN IS IMPORTANT

Even though this one is fourth on the list, it is still important. In fact I wouldn't call this a ranked list. I consider each of the rules as important as the others and they work together in context with each other. Even though we want simple and effective functionality constructed in a practical manner, the final design is still the last piece that will make the entire project be as good as it can be. In design, the same principles of simplicity and minimalism can be applied. But it is done is an "artistic" and "aesthetically pleasing" manner that is difficult to define, but easy to identify when you see it. A great design will tie together the final project and make it something that people enjoy using, are motivated to use, and want to come back and use it again.