[Making OSS UIs work]

Do

  1. Get a Benevolent Dictator
  2. Make the Program Usable In Its Default State
  3. Design Around Tasks
  4. Write a Plug-In Architecture
  5. User Testing, User Testing, User Testing!!

Do Not

  1. Develop Without A Vision
  2. Join the Clone Wars
  3. Leave the UI Design Up To The End User
  4. Make the Interface a Thin Veneer over the Underlying Implementation
  5. Treat UI Design as Babysitting Idiots