Pattern 36: Follow standards
 AKA:

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You understand the effects of PRIMING AND INTERFERENCE (18).

Standards inhibit creativity but help usability due to transfer effects.

Therefore

Apply de facto and de jure standards. Consult style guides.

Use ACCEPTABLE WORDING (50).

Discussion - forces - known uses

Users bring knowledge of interface and web conventions when they visit your site. If you don’t follow them you may confuse people. At the very least you’re making them think harder. The best thing to do if you want do offer something new is to consider extending a convention rather than replacing it with an entirely new approach. For an example of this see the discussion of SITE LOGO AT TOP LEFT (24). There must be a measurable benefit for you and your users whenever you deviate from a standard.

If your site has internal conventions, stick to them rigidly on pain of confusing and alienating users.
Some standards that we take for granted in other GUIs, such as scrollbars, are less effective on web sites. Make sure the standards that you follow are appropriate in the context of the web.

Shopping trolleys are now a standard for commerce sites.

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