Heuristic Evaluation - Cross-Cultural Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience Design - page 164

Error prevention.
Even better than good error messages is a careful design that prevents a problem from
occurring in the first place.
Feedback/visible system status.
The system should always keep users informed about what is going on through ap-
propriate feedback within reasonable time.
Fitt's Law.
The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance to and size of the target.
Flexibility and efficiency of use.
Accelerators—unseen by the novice user—may often speed up the interaction for
the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced
users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
Help and documentation.
Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be
necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy
to search, be focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and be
concise.
Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors.
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate
the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
Information legibility/density.
Maximize the amount of data to the amount of ink or pixels used. Eliminate any
decorations on charts and graphs that do not actually convey information, such as
three-dimensional embellishments. “Less is more” is the rule in information design
as every pixel used that does not contribute to information dilutes it.
Match between system and the real world.
The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts fa-
miliar to the users, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions,
making information appear in a natural and logical order.
Modelessness.
For the most part, try to create modeless features that allow people to do whatever
they want when they want to in your application. Avoid using modes in your appli-
cation because a mode typically restricts the operations that the user can perform.
Modelessness gives the user more control over what he or she can do and allows the
user to maintain context of the work.