Diego,

Have you looked at some of the User Interface design prinicples found in Jef
Raskin's "The Humane Interface" ?

While you, Alan, & I many not agree with all Jef's principles, I think he'll
help you zero in on you novice user's real and immediate needs.

I've summarized some of his points that I found most interesting here:
http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak/3026

Here's someone's review:
http://humane.sourceforge.net/humane_interface/hollands_review.html

Here's the table of contents:
http://www.stormpages.com/futureintent/Humane.htm

Cheers,
Darius