Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Mac OS X Desktop and GUI Design

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the interesting-stuff-to-read dept.

Khelder sent us a nifty little bit about the MacOS X Desktop. It talks quite a bit about UI Design (mirror) from a Mac-Centric but also a general perspective. It's quite interesting stuff for anyone into MacOS-X, but also it has lots of practical stuff for anyone who's ever tried to create a usable theme for one of today's modern window managers.

2 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. Tog's questionable judgment by ~k.lee · · Score: 5

    I used to respect Tognazzini a great deal. However, close reading of his writing, over an extended period of time, has led me to believe that he has questionable judgment about many issues. Just examine his article, How Programmers Stole the Web, where he claims that:

    • BASIC is the paragon of computer programming languages, because it uses a "simple" state-machine paradigm (I can only assume he means programs composed of global variables and GOTOs, like a finite-state automaton).
    • JavaScript is counterintuitive because it (a) resembles C++ instead of BASIC and (b) the code must be enclosed in comments (he thinks an XML-based inline programming language would have been the better choice, apparently ignorant of how bulky and clumsy pure XML-syntax programming languages like ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) have turned out.)
    • Tognazzini calls it "inexplicable" that VBScript is not cross-browser and cross-platform, and seems to imply that this is due to engineers' habits of "enforced illogic" (which leads engineers to hate BASIC)---not on the Microsoft attempt to turn the Web into their proprietary fiefdom.

    These are only a sample of the glaring Deep Wrongness in the article I link to above.

    In addition, Tog is a relentless Apple partisan, despite his objections to the new Aqua interface. This clouds his perception of all Apple-related issues. For example, among other things, he says in the Aqua/OS X interface article that "Apple could argue, and few would deny it, that Apple was first and Microsoft is the one who made things difficult by failing to accurately copy the Mac interface." Ignoring, of course, the fact that Microsoft would have been perfectly happy to copy the Apple interface exactly, except that Apple is one of the most litigious companies in the IT industry (have you seen Microsoft threaten to sue KDE over their Windows98 theme?).

    IMHO, Tognazzini has suffered from a lesser form of the same brain rot that has affected Jon Katz since becoming published on the web: free to spout off without an editor, never forced to confront dissenting opinions before publication, he has become something of an autodidact. This may seem a bit harsh, but I urge the programmers in the audience to read the "How Programmers Stole the Web" article. It reveals a great deal about the didacticism of Tognazzini's thought habits, and will probably cast a very different light on his supposedly authoritative interface design ideas.

    I once respected Tog. Occasionally, he comes up with some good insights. However, don't let his impressive resume blind you to his often misled assertions.

    ~k.lee
    --
    (remove nospam for email)
  2. Re:Attention GNOME/KDE developers! by John+Whitley · · Score: 5
    Better yet, how about the GNOME/KDE developers get someone on board with real, hard-core HCI design experience who can do a comprehensive analysis of usability issues within these environments? Then follow it up by writing a professional-grade book documenting User Interface programmer's guidelines, ala the similar documents from Apple, (the defunct) Go Corp., and so on.

    Realistically, those involved in designing user interfaces for Open Source projects should take it upon themselves to invest in some good UI books. Ben Shneiderman's Designing the User Interface, 3rd Ed. is a good starting point. Harold Thimbleby's User Interface Design, out of print, is a good book for the quantitative side of HCI, e.g. Fitt's Law and other known metrics relating to user interfaces, if you can find it. Wander through the HCI stacks of your local university library, raid graduate level HCI professors' web sites for other suggested papers and books to read. Shell out for a membership to the ACM SIGCHI -- surf through the CHI conference proceedings for good UI nuggets and broad-based UI design principles.

    I also find it amusing how these great Linux user environment projects got started off -- with noone seemingly having any understanding of UI design at the helm. What sort of user experience are we really building for Linux? The problem is that no one really knows. This business of "built by hackers, for hackers" doesn't wash, as few hackers I've known have any clue whatsoever about user interface design issues. This is a substantial field, with many solved problems, yet instead of Using The Source (i.e. doing the readily available background reading) many Open Source projects continue to reinvent the UI wheel -- badly.

    That said, there have been some successes, but mostly in individual isolated projects. Nothing on the scale of providing a comprehensive, flexible, yet unified user experience..