http://blogs.msdn.com/shawnhar/archive/2008/12/02/so-many-buttons-on-the-gamepad.aspxMy girlfriend (not a gamer) is addicted to Word Soup . I (also not much of a gamer) am enjoying browsing through the many Community Games , admiring their tremendous variety, creativity, and (at least in some cases :-) polish. But here's the thing: tooenCommunityServer 2.1 SP1 (Build: 61025.2)http://blogs.msdn.com/shawnhar/archive/2008/12/02/so-many-buttons-on-the-gamepad.aspx#9888886Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:34:04 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:9888886required<p>Expanding that a little further for keyboard and mouse:</p> <p>The fewer clicks the better. Allways.</p> <p>Go back/return allways left, forward/continue right (because we read books that way). That can change with culture(japanese-books).</p> <p>If you use icons a)try to find an archetype and b)allway give a textual hint. because a can change with culture or the icon is just to bad.</p> <p>Green is good, red is bad. Also cultural.</p> <p>Try to make your GUI for intelligent and not so intelligent people. Or give them a switch to change from standart to advanced. Nothing is more frustrating than a GUI that holds a person back to be more efficient.</p> <p>Try to design the GUI in a way that a user does not have to change his hand from mice to keyboard all the time.</p> <p>Allways give the user the possibility to change the keyboard-,button-layout. Not everyone plays like you do.</p> <p>And something that is bugging me personally:</p> <p>If i load a game and hit ESC once, i wanna be right in the main menu. I dont wanna see any crappy logos or intro movies. If i wanna see them, i have the 'credits' and the 'play intro' buttons in the main menu.</p> <p>Fade in the music at startup!!! That way i have enough time to turn down the volume.</p>