Retrospective application of user interface guidelines: a case study of a language-based editor

This study examines the relevance of user interface design guidelines, such as the extensive set developed by Smith and Mosier (1986), to the relatively sophisticated user interface of an existing language-based editor. The aims of the study were to ascertain the potential impact of the advice offered by the guidelines on this type of software product and to investigate whether any issues, relevant to this and future versions of the editor, were not addressed by the guidelines.