
The Forgiving User Interface - ColinWright
http://www.solipsys.co.uk/new/TheForgivingUserInterface.html?HN_20150814
======
gus_massa
Somewhat related: "Why do numpads on keyboards and phones have reversed
layouts?" [http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/16666/why-do-
numpads-o...](http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/16666/why-do-numpads-on-
keyboards-and-phones-have-reversed-layouts)

I personally suffered this once because I remember my ATM PIN by "shape" not
by "numbers", I was very confused until I realized the difference. At lest in
this example both dispositions are arbitrary, so it's not as bad as the
examples in the OP.

------
mindcrime
_There 's the real design challenge. By all means make it pretty, but above
all, make it unsurprising. And in the cases where that fails, make it
forgiving._

Sounds like there should be a corollary to the "Principle of Least
Astonishment"[1]. Maybe it could be called the "Principle of Least Damage" or
"Principle of Maximum Forgiveness" or something. Or maybe that already exists?

[1]:
[http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?PrincipleOfLeastAstonishment](http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?PrincipleOfLeastAstonishment)

