Well, this is a list of nothing but truisms. Take each of the "foundations" and do a simple test: state the opposite and check if it makes any sense; if it doesn't make sense at all, then it probably means they aren't really saying anything worthy.<p>The said "foundations", stripped down of verbosity, are:<p>* Consistency;<p>* Convention;<p>* Ask for minimum input;<p>* Load and react fast;<p>* Use animation to communicate changes;<p>* Avoid clutter;<p>* Avoid content which screams "fake".<p>Now, would anyone advocate for the opposite of consistency, convention, minimizing user work or being fast/giving feedback? This is pretty much the same as saying that the foundation of flying a plane is to not crash said plane. True, but not very helpful.
I'd be careful with recommending animations. Getting animations right is extremely difficult. And it's dangerous: if you get an animation just slightly wrong, the experience will be worse than a sudden change.<p>Our brains are pretty good at coping with sudden changes.<p>What's more important than animating changes, is to make sure the user expects the change. For example, if extra form fields appear after the user clicks a button labelled 'show advanced settings', nobody will be surprised. However, if form fields appear and disappear automatically as you are typing, you'll startle the user wheter you use animation or not.<p>My recommendation would be: keep UI as static as possible, make changes predictable. If you really want to use animations, put a lot of effort into testing them to make sure they are beneficial. Hastily added animations can do a lot of harm.
Not sure I agree about stock photos. Not all stock photos are headset hotties and bespoke photography is expensive. Even large organisations use stock photos, so I think it makes sense for a small company, especially if it isn't a core competency.
And the foundation of a good write up on the "Foundations of a good UI" should always include screen shots of good and bad examples per point.<p>Wrong type of windows, those.
<i>For example: the color red is associated with danger and prohibition as established by social convention. Talking about the environment in red colors will confuse users and distract from the message trying to be communicated</i><p>How much weight does this really carry if your product is good ? My guess, negligible. Websites just pick a theme color and go with it e.g. Facebook/twitter : blue, Youtube/Google+/Pinterest : red, etc.
What do you think about consistency between a mobile app and a website? Logos and other such assets aside, is it valuable to keep the colour scheme the same, and keep UI elements such as buttons the same?