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I came across this article about the user interface of the OX aka $100 laptop or OLPC (one laptop per child).

They've lost the traditional desktop metaphore and went for a network oriented one:

There are also icons representing the three different modes—home, friends, and neighborhood—that are integral to the "zoom" metaphor. In home mode, a user sees the XO Man, and, when she clicks on the icon to launch an activity, the icon for that activity pops into a gray ring encircling the XO Man. In friends mode, she sees icons representing her circle of friends, each identified by nickname and chosen color scheme. Next to the friends are icons depicting the activities in which they're engaged.

If several friends are sharing an activity—say, working on a school report together—they are pictured clustered around the appropriate icon. Our user can ask to be invited into a group activity or can start one of her own and invite others to join. The neighborhood mode gives a broader view of all of the individuals and clusters of friends on the network at the moment and the activities they're involved in.

Sounds very interesting and I'm curious to see the first test results!

Design principles are a wonderful thing. They enable the inexperienced to lever the knowledge of the experienced. However it becomes a confusing place when every expert is starting his or her own list of 'rules'. For future reference I'll list a couple of them here:

• Shneiderman's "Eight Golden Rules of Dialog Design":

1. Strive for consistency.
2. Enable frequent users to use shortcuts.
3. Offer informative feedback.
4. Design dialog to yield closure.
5. Offer simple error handling.
6. Permit easy reversal of actions.
7. Support internal locus of control.
8. Reduce short-term memory load.

• Bill Scott's "Nine Tips for Designing Rich Internet Applications ":

1. Make it directly interactive
2. Make it inviting
3. Use lightweight, in-context popups instead of page transitions where possible
4. Use real-estate creatively
5. Cross page boundaries reluctantly
6. Create a light footprint
7. Think of your interactions as storyboards
8. Communicate transitions
9. Think in objects

• Jakob Nielsen's "Ten Usability Heuristics":

1. Visibility of system status
2. Match between system and the real world
3. User control and freedom
4. Consistency and standards
5. Error prevention
6. Recognition rather than recall
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
10. Help and documentation

• Don Norman's "Design principles ":

1. Visibility
2. Feedback
3. Constraints
4. Mapping
5. Consistency
6. Affordances

To top it off I found another listing of several design rules . They present a set of design principles that are from several sources, and should comprise a complete set of guidelines.

1.   Use simple and natural dialog in user's language
Match user's task in natural way. Avoid jargon, and techno-speak. Present exactly information users need, not too little or too much.

2.   Strive for consistency
Sequences, actions, commands, layouts and terminology should be consistent so as to make the interface more predictable.

3.   Provide informative feedback
Continuously inform user what is happening. It is most important to provide feedback on substantive and infrequent actions.

4.   Minimize user's memory load
Human mind can recognize better than recall. Provide enough information so that the user can take action without recalling a lot.

5.   Permit easy reversal of actions (undo)
To reduce anxiety and encourage experiments.

6.   Provide clearly marked exits
So that the user won't be trapped on any level of the applications.

7.   Provide shortcuts
Enable frequent users to perform often used operations quickly.

8.   Support internal locus of control
Put user in charge, not computer.

9.   Handle errors smoothly and positively
Make the system robust and provide easy to use recovery measures.

10.   Provide useful help and document
Users should be able to get sufficient help information when they get confused.
 

An extremely use full and interesting post about the redesign of the BBC web page in 2002. The whole process has been captured into a document called 'The Glass Wall'.