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A Good Style Guide Under the Creative Commons?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the build-something-that-doesn't-suck dept.

eldavojohn writes "I've been charged with making a specific user interface style guide for a suite of software by my employer. I'm not quite sure where to start. So I turned to my favorite search engine only to be brutally disappointed with what is out there to help me. I'm a software developer but have not had any formal training in UI design or look and feel. I'm looking for something more than just "keep it simple, stupid." I'm looking more for something that is specific but not technologically dependent. This doesn't have to be a global standard, merely a document that illustrates how one would effectively describe look and feel. Does anyone know of such a guide either created by an organization, government or company for their own uses — possibly one even released under the creative common license?" In addition to just documentation, what other UI advice can Slashdot readers offer in order to ensure quality development?

6 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Apple Human Interface Guidelines by Foofoobar · · Score: 5, Informative

    Macintosh develop site has several well put together style guides for software development that you should look at. Check out the Apple Human Interface Guidelines. Apple may not be your cup of tea but they always have good ideas and have a well put together interface and this will DEFINITELY give you a good idea where and how to start.

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    1. Re:Apple Human Interface Guidelines by JustinOpinion · · Score: 5, Informative

      Since the original poster seems to prefer permissive licensing, he should also check out the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines 2.0. It's an extensive set of best-practices and guidelines, licensed under the GFDL. Thus he can tailor the guidelines to his needs and redistribute them without worrying about copyright issues (another poster suggested setting-up a wiki for his users, which could also work).

      The KDE Usability Guide also has some good material, although at this time it looks much less mature than the GNOME docs.

    2. Re:Apple Human Interface Guidelines by try_anything · · Score: 5, Informative
      OSX, GNOME, and KDE are all very usable environments, but style guides mostly tell you how to achieve consistency with other applications on the platform. If the OP is really asking for a style guide of this kind, he needs to tell us what platform he is developing on. Using an Apple style guide to create a Windows program will result in a less usable design, even if the Apple guidelines are superior to the Windows ones.

      For an introduction to UI design, here are some good resources:

  2. Not really sure what you're looking for, but... by ruyon · · Score: 5, Informative
    How about taking a look at these well-known samples?

    GNOME HIG

    http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/

    Apple's HIG

    http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/XHIGIntro/chapter_1_section_1.html

    1. Re:Not really sure what you're looking for, but... by Chandon+Seldon · · Score: 5, Informative

      For example, in the GIMP : Create a New Image, the order is [Help] [Reset] [Cancel] [Okay]. Last I looked, this was an LTR (left-to-right) locale. The default action in EVERY other environment is on the left in LTR locales.

      Except Windows, where the default action is in the middle (i.e. the hardest to find possible choice):
      Windows Dialog

      Or Mac OS Classic, where it works just like in Gnome:
      Mac Classic Dialog

      Or In Mac OS X, where it works just like in Gnome:
      OS X Dialog

      I can't find a screenshot, but KDE seems to work like Windows.

      I still don't see what the problem is here. There are two common ways of doing it. Mac and Gnome do it one way, Windows and KDE do it the other. *shrug*

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  3. Re:Hire an artist. by neurosis101 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I almost never post on /. but seeing this I can NOT pass up.

    Creating a good interface is about FAR more than just pretty pictures. An artist might make it look good, but looking good and being functional are not related in any way, shape or form. I've seen art houses produce UIs that were illogical and violated many basic UI principles but look nice. The worst part is your client will fall in love with the looks without thinking about the damage that is being done.

    If you are going to bring in outside sources, there are art houses that have specific UI design experience. You should make sure you engage one of these. Or come up with a design, then have the art house make it look nice.

    Real UI design is about user cases, apprentice-master relationships, and other things 99.9% of artists don't know anything about.