Many of these thoughts or principles are lifted right from thought leaders in UI design, or may be considered common best practices, but I like to remind myself of them constantly, so I assembled them into a unified list.

1. Less is More
- The question is not "what should we add", but "what can we remove"?
- Simplify, simplify

2. Be Human
- People don't want to feel like they are interacting with a machine. The voice, the way we prompt users, the way we ask for things and warn about problems should be said just like we'd say them if the user was standing right there, talking to us.

3. Make it Beautiful
- Aesthetics go a long way in improving perception of the application, and everyone can appreciate it when something looks good. Beauty can give us an edge over the alternatives.

4. Make it Bulletproof
- We aim to make it work at all times, under all circumstances. This means supporting all major browsers with graceful degradation for older ones and progressive enhancement for newer ones. You have to assume that if it's possible, someone will try it, so make sure it works, and works well (and securely!).

5. Don't Ask, Do!
- AKA "Don't make me think". Use intelligent defaults, and help users make choices by making obvious ones for them. Don't ask for more input than is absolutely necessary, and handle information intelligently.

6. Direct Manipulation is King
- Map the interface to the mental model, not the implementation model. If something is to be editable, click to edit it. Don't make users enter data in one way and display it in another.

7. Be Inspired By Patterns
- Don't reinvent the wheel. But if you can make it faster and more efficient, do it! Save time by starting with well accepted interface patterns, but while you're at it, see if you can do better.

8. "Think" Aloud
- Through our interface, give constant, helpful feedback to users so that they always know where they stand, what's happening, and what's next.

9. Users > Implementation Headaches
- It's worth the trouble to implement if it elevates the usability of the application. Don't cut corners on usability to make your own job easier.

10. Be Fun, not just Painless
- Applications should not just be painless to use, they should be proactively fun and enjoyable. Make our applications tactile, pliable and pleasurable!