Currently I work as a Usability Engineer in silicon valley. This means I deal heavily on Ergonomics, which is applying what we have learned in human sciences like psychology or medicine to improve the workplace (in this case the user to computer interface. The reason we do this is to offer secure solutions that are comfortable. To me this sounded easy at first, but consider if you will that people don't always know what they want (check out Malcom Gladwells TED talk for a frame of reference). Plus, factor in the diverse variety of users we have to design for. Each with their own slew of habits, knowledge and expectations. At times when I am designing these user interfaces, I feel I am shooting in the dark.
However, my psychological studies have enlighten me to certain human characteristics of our sensory, cognitive, and motor system that provides me with some framework. For instance, our working memory is roughly limited to what Georges Miller defined as 7 mnemes (information units). Where as our long term memory is able of storing an indefinite number of pieces of information (check out this woman who remembers everything!). One way to bridge this gap is by repetition, so when I design, I attempt to build repetition into the interface.
If you think the sensory system is complex, just try factoring in our cognitive system. Our brain is what forms the mental representation prior to action, but these mental representations are susceptible to any number of internal or external variables that makes it exceedingly difficult to fully empathize with the user. To keep it simple, I try to stick to a series of rules when creating an interface. They are as follows:
Short messages to enhance memorization
Put important info at the top
All information must be 3 clicks away
Allow each access to the home screen
keep navigation elements consistent from page to page.
Segmentation
Including feedback from to ensure the user is receiving a true representation of the system
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