|||
| Principle | Rule |
|---|---|
| Reset spaces after you make a mess | Don’t leave peanut butter, bread, and jelly on the counter |
Principles are universal. Principles teach. They provide guidance and the freedom to design your own solution. Rules, on the other hand, are contextual. They can useful for novices (“Don’t put mescal in a margarita”) but experts break them all the time.
When designing for a user experience, prefer principles to rules. A handful of principles is easier to remember (and follow) than dozens and dozens of rules.
I don’t repeat these principles to myself in the mirror, if that’s what you’re wondering. But they do play on repeat (like Jon Acuff’s soundtracks) while I work.
Feel free to adopt these as your own, especially if you are someone getting started in content design.
