kouryuu Don Norman UX Rules for Agentic Systems
Set of instructions, rules, and guidelines for the agent to apply Don Norman’s UX principles when designing, reviewing, or generating user interfaces.
When to use
Use this skill when:
- Designing a new UI or interaction flow
- Evaluating usability of a product or feature
- Generating UI components or workflows
- Reviewing product UX for improvements
- Performing automated UX audits
- Designing developer tools, dashboards, or consumer interfaces
- Reducing cognitive load in complex workflows
Activate this skill when the goal involves human interaction with software systems.
Instructions
Identify the user goal and expected outcome.
Determine the available user actions and ensure they are visible.
- Actions must be discoverable.
- Hidden functionality should include signifiers.
Verify affordances and signifiers.
- Interactive elements must visually indicate interaction.
- Use buttons, sliders, inputs, or clear interaction cues.
Ensure natural mapping between controls and outcomes.
- Controls should correspond spatially or logically with results.
- Prefer direct manipulation (drag, swipe, adjust).
Provide immediate feedback for every action.
- Visual state change
- Loading indicators
- Success or error messages
Maintain system status visibility.
Users should always know:
- where they are
- what is happening
- what will happen next
Prevent errors using constraints.
- Disable invalid actions
- Validate inputs
- Reduce dangerous options
Enable error recovery.
- Provide undo or redo
- Allow cancellation
- Avoid irreversible destructive actions
Favor recognition over recall.
- Use menus, lists, and visible options
- Avoid requiring users to remember commands or data
Minimize cognitive load.
- Reduce decision points
- Provide defaults
- Group related controls
Maintain interaction consistency.
- Similar actions must behave similarly
- Reuse patterns across the interface
Apply progressive disclosure.
- Show simple options first
- Reveal advanced controls only when necessary
Ensure discoverability.
- Users should understand how to interact without documentation.
Evaluate interaction using the Norman Action Cycle:
goal
→ intention
→ action
→ system state
→ perception
→ interpretation
→ evaluation
- Minimize the two UX gaps:
- Gulf of Execution: difficulty performing an intended action
- Gulf of Evaluation: difficulty understanding system feedback
- Evaluate UX quality using the following heuristic dimensions:
visibility
feedback
mapping
constraints
recoverability
consistency
cognitive_load
error_probability
discoverability
- Prefer canonical interaction patterns:
- visible controls
- immediate feedback
- direct manipulation
- undoable actions
- progressive disclosure
- Avoid common UX anti-patterns:
- hidden actions
- delayed feedback
- irreversible operations
- inconsistent controls
- invisible system state