http://wiki.karljones.com/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Principle_of_least_astonishment 2026-10-23T15:22:47Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.24.2 http://wiki.karljones.com/index.php?title=Principle_of_least_astonishment&diff=19793&oldid=prev 2016-12-05T18:44:53Z

<p>Created page with &quot;The &#039;&#039;&#039;principle of least astonishment&#039;&#039;&#039; (&#039;&#039;&#039;POLA&#039;&#039;&#039;) (alternatively &quot;principle/law/rule of least astonishment/surprise&quot;) applies to user interface and software design, from...&quot;</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>The '''principle of least astonishment''' ('''POLA''') (alternatively &quot;principle/law/rule of least astonishment/surprise&quot;) applies to user interface and software design, from the ergonomics standpoint.<br /> <br /> A typical formulation of the principle is: &quot;If a necessary feature has a high astonishment factor, it may be necessary to redesign the feature.&quot;<br /> <br /> In general engineering design contexts, the principle can be taken to mean that a component of a system should behave in a manner consistent with how users of that component are likely to expect it to behave; that is, users should not be astonished at the way it behaves.<br /> <br /> == See also ==<br /> <br /> * [[DWIM]] (Do What I Mean)<br /> * [[Convention over configuration]]<br /> * [[Human interface guidelines]]<br /> * [[List of software development philosophies]]<br /> * [[Look and feel]]<br /> * [[Occam's razor]]<br /> * [[WYSIWYG]]<br /> <br /> == External links ==<br /> <br /> * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_astonishment Principle of least astonishment]<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Software design]]</div>

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