Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
Remove the distractions of tiny speed bumps that add to the load on the user: error messages, irrelevant text, unnecessary choices, and visual clutter.
Giles Colborne • Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design
Once you know your users and can share that knowledge in a way that is actionable, it is significantly easier to design for them instead of designing for yourself.
Ziv Yaar • User is Always Right, The: A Practical Guide to Creating and Using Personas for the Web
Chunking is used throughout user interface design.
Giles Colborne • Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design
Two-dimensional layering is useful for presentation and navigation.
William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler • Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design
Consider putting some basic elements on a general background layer,
Giles Colborne • Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design
increased line height in body text, and also to add extra vertical space between columns, as I find this increases readability.