Most Important Words On Left

As a general design rule of thumb, put the most important word on the left of any title and object name. Rearrange if need be. For example, use "Position of Image" instead of "Image Position" if "position" is more important. ("Image" may be fairly obvious due to context in a particular case). Most people read the first item in the list or title and are more likely to ignore or skip the later ones.

Of course, doing so may make for awkward wording in some cases such that one may have to live with the non-left version to avoid having the reader cringe. Sometimes if you ponder it a while, you can reword it such that the important words do come first.

I encountered a confusing user interface at the hospital automobile exit gate. It had two buttons. One said, "Push this button to lift the exit gate", and the other said "Push this button to contact security in case of emergency". I almost pushed the security button because it was easier to reach, being that I happened to drive up at a slightly stupid angle. The security button would be better worded as, "For emergencies or to contact security, push this button".

Titles and signs: Most important word on the left of any title and object name. Most people read the first item in the list or title.
Newspapers: Most important words at the beginning. People tend to read the beginning of a article and skip the rest.
Radio: Most important words summarized or re-iterated at the end. People may not notice the importance of the story until part way through the story. They can not scroll back to the beginning, and they may not have been paying attention to it. Putting the critical information at the end of the story allows someone who has been listening and has gotten interested part way through to find out what the story was about and hear keywords for more in-depth future research.
- I'd modify this to "summarize or re-iterate important points at the end". done.

CategoryUserInterface, CategoryNaming