Some of the best language I've ever come across for this stuff is in this book: The Design of Everyday Things . I promise you--if you like the stuff you read on this site, you would really get a kick out of this book. Even though it's not explicitly about games, the stuff is directly applicable.

One subject he talks about in there is "feature creep." There seems to be a fine line between functionality and good design; you may really want an extra feature, but putting it in may make the interface too complex to mess with. There also ought to be some correlation between the interface and the function.

I thought the best example in there was of a stove (or range). Most ranges have to have a diagram or labels under the dials to show you which dial goes with what burner. This is asinine design. It makes more sense to arrange the dials 2 x 2, arranged so the top left dial controls the top left burner, and so on. The same thing with light switches. It doesn't make sense to have the light switches go up and down, but control lights haphazardly (maybe the middle light switch turns the lights off in the back corner, etc.) Once you read this book, you will NOT look at everyday items the same way. Every time you do, you'll be asking yourself if it made sense to design it that way. I can't recommend this book highly enough.