GUI design techniques to enhance user experience [closed]

Question

What techniques do you know\use to create user-friendly GUI ?

I can name following techniques that I find especially useful:

• Non-blocking notifications (floating dialogs like in Firefox3 or Vista's pop-up messages in tray area)
• Absence of "Save" button
  MS OneNote as an example.
  IM clients can save conversation history automatically
• Integrated search
  Search not only through help files but rather make UI elements searchable.
  Vista made a good step toward such GUI.
  Scout addin Microsoft Office was a really great idea.
• Context oriented UI (Ribbon bar in MS Office 2007)

Do you implement something like listed techniques in your software?

Edit:
As Ryan P mentioned, one of the best way to create usable app is to put yourself in user's place. I totally agree with it, but what I want to see in this topic is specific techniques (like those I mentioned above) rather than general recommendations.

Answer 1

If you do give the user a question, don't make it a yes/no question. Take the time to make a new form and put the verbs as choices like in mac.

For example:

 Would you like to save?          Yes        No 

Should Be:

  Would you like to save?     Save        Don't Save  

There is a more detailed explanation here.