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Human Interface Subtleties in Software

Posted by timothy on from the ineffables-in-action dept.

Disoriented writes "As a GUI designer and programmer I enjoy sites like this. The info here is fairly old, dating back to Classic Mac OS, but it illustrates the kind of details users look for in a well-polished GUI." Mac-centric, but there are good points made in here for anyone working on GUI applications -- less bitter than the Interface Hall of Shame, too ;)

6 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Quinn! by daeley · · Score: 3, Informative

    Whoa, talk about going back to the future.

    For those who don't know Quinn, IIRC he's the guy who wrote Internet Config for the Mac, what 10 years ago? Up until that point, you had to change internet prefs in a bunch of different places. With his program (which, again IIRC, was eventually integrated with the OS), you could change it in one spot.

    All hail Quinn! :)

    --
    I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
  2. GUI target size [Tog] by redelm · · Score: 5, Informative
    This is a good article, and if you like it, you might like some of Bruce Tognazzini's work here.He also has a book out "Tog on Interfaces".

    One of his major points is the size of GUI targets. The edges and screen corners are easy to hit, but grossly underutilised by GUI designers. This causes more RSI in users than necessary. I've worked some apps with poorly chosen target locations and defaults that were just murder on my wrist.

    1. Re:GUI target size [Tog] by AT · · Score: 4, Informative

      What about the START button in the bottom left - and top left on Macs?

      Bad example. On Windows (up to 2K, anyways), the start button is slightly off the corner. If you whip the mouse down to the lower right until it hits the edge, you'll actually be past it! Those extra pixels between the edge of the screen and the Start button just sit there being wasted. Gnome gets this right, and I suspect KDE and the Mac do a better job, too.

    2. Re:GUI target size [Tog] by joshstaiger · · Score: 2, Informative

      On Windows (up to 2K, anyways), the start button is slightly off the corner.

      This has been fixed in Windows XP. You can now just throw your mouse to the bottom corner and hit the Start menu. Actually, this is the first that I've noticed it, as I was so used to the flaw in previous versions of Windows.

  3. Attentive User Interfaces by chemstar · · Score: 3, Informative

    For those who may be members of the ACM, the new issue of the ACM magazine Communications has an excellent issue regarding Attentive user interfaces.

  4. Semi-OT: Interface Hall of Shame by Narchie+Troll · · Score: 4, Informative

    That isn't the Interface Hall of Shame, it's the "OS X-centric Hall of Shit." iarchitect.com is gone, but the Wayback Machine still has it.

    Interface Hall of Shame A lot of this OS X IHoS's sections are like those in the original Hall of Shame. Interesting. The original is no longer up to date, however. I'd have loved to see their views of OS X and Windows XP, as well as the up-and-coming X Window desktops.