Write a few sentences to point out the most important points that another developer should know about your UI design. Include any points that are likely to be misunderstood, or that have changed.
Consider how the sample UI design goals relate to your project. Add, edit, or delete goals to fit your project. Order the goals from most important to least important.
The central metaphor is the most general concept in the user interface. Usually, you can describe the central metaphor by naming some real world document, business tool, or physical object that your system is inspired by. E.g., a note taking application might work like an electronic notebook, a personal finance application might work like a smart checkbook, and a MP3 player might use the metaphor of a real world CD player.
Name a few existing systems that have an overall UI design that your project will be similar to. These might be competing systems or legacy products offered by your company.
Link to any published UI standards, guidelines, or styles that you plan to follow. These are available from the vendors of popular window systems: e.g., Apple, Microsoft, and Sun. There may also be government or corporate standards: e.g., Section 508.
Briefly list important assumptions about the output device. If you are not making many assumptions, state that. If the software product runs on specific hardware, give the specifications of the display. If your user population has a range of popular output devices, describe the minimum, expected, and any specifically supported high-end output devices.
Often users expect that the product will enable them to accomplish specific tasks within a short amount of time. And, the definition of "short" keeps changing all the time. E.g., people were once very impressed with 28 Kbps modems, now they expect web pages to load within 2 seconds. Understanding and documenting user expectations about task completion times is an important part of managing customer expectations and it will drive some UI design decisions.
Use this checklist to help check your work and evaluate your UI design with respect to your stated goals. If there is any question that you cannot answer, or must answer negatively, go back and revise the design.
