QwantarcInterface GuidelinesQIG

QIG Qwantarc

Interface Guidelines

How Qwantarc designs software people rely on all day: the ideas behind every screen, the foundations they share, the patterns that repeat and the components they’re built from, on any platform and in any technology.

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Principles

When a rule doesn’t cover a case, these decide it.

  1. Task firstA screen leads with the job it exists for. Secondary controls move into menus, inspectors and sheets, so the main task is never crowded out.
  2. People stay in controlGuidance can be skipped, destructive work is confirmed or can be undone, and nothing acts without being asked.
  3. Clarity over decorationLegible type, purposeful colour and room to breathe. Content comes before chrome, and every visual element earns its place.
  4. One vocabularyThe same job uses the same control, in the same place, with the same words, everywhere in a product and across products.
  5. Depth with purposeContent sits on opaque surfaces. Controls and navigation float above it on Glass, so people always know what they can act on and what they are reading.
  6. Adapts to people and placesLight and dark, text size, pointer or touch, keyboard-only use and accessibility settings are first-class, not afterthoughts.
  7. Fast where work is frequentActions people repeat all day happen instantly, without animation, with the cursor where they need it and a shortcut for the command.
  8. Trustworthy with dataSay what will happen before it happens, and make the consequences for money, records and people explicit.
  9. Crafted detailsShared design values only, concentric corners, aligned figures, consistent motion, and real empty, loading and error states.

The guidelines

90 pages in five sections.

Start here

The pages most people read first.