This guide promotes visual and functional consistency within and across the Windows operating system. Although following these guidelines is encouraged, you are free to adopt the guidelines that best suit your software. However, by following these guidelines, you enable users to transfer their skills and experience from one task to the next and to learn new tasks easily. In addition, evolution toward data-centered design breaks down the lines between traditional application domains, making inconsistencies in the interface more obvious and distracting to users.
Conversely, adhering to the design guidelines does not guarantee usability. The guidelines are valuable tools, but they must be combined with other factors as part of an effective software design process, such as application of design principles, task analysis, prototyping, and usability evaluation.
You may extend these guidelines, provided that you do so in the spirit of the principles on which they are based, and maintain a reasonable level of consistency with the visual and behavioral aspects of the Windows interface. In general, avoid adding new elements or behaviors unless the interface does not otherwise support them. More importantly, avoid changing an existing behavior for common elements. A user builds up expectations about the workings of an interface. Inconsistencies not only confuse the user, they also add unnecessary complexity.
These guidelines supersede those issued for Windows version 3.1 and all previous releases and are specific to the development of applications designed for Microsoft® Windows®, Microsoft® Windows NT™ Workstation, and Microsoft® Windows NT Server. There is no direct relationship between these guidelines and those provided for other operating systems.
For more information about special considerations concerning developing applications for both Windows 95 and Windows NT operating system, see Appendix D, "Supporting Specific Versions of Windows."