Tracy Snell wrote:
>- Ignores global system keystroke settings. When I'm in an edit field
>on a web page I expect ctrl-e to take me to the end.
Let's not forget simple conventional cmd-key shortcuts, especially as
button shortcuts in dialogs. For example, the JPG screen-shot shows a Find
dialog. If the app doesn't support the following shortcuts as cmd-keys,
then it's not Mac-like:
cmd-F - find next
cmd-shift-F - find previous
cmd-E - use selection as string to find
The "Artwork Record 1,702" window at left seems clunky. If it has a close
widget, which it does, then a "Cancel" button is operationally superfluous,
and also degrades the conciseness of the layout. That is, the window needs
an extra 40 pixels or so on the bottom for a "Cancel" button, making the
window larger than it needs to be, thus hiding more content in the main
window.
Same goes for the "Find" dialog. It has a close widget, so the "Close"
button is superfluous.
Also, if those small-title-bar windows aren't floating windows, i.e.
palettes, then they should have a normal title-bar. The small-title-bar is
frequently (though not universally) a visual cue for a floating window.
And if the Find dialog and the Artwork Record window are modal, it just
screams of un-Mac-likeness.
One thing that strikes me about the main window are the isolated
side-by-side arrow buttons in the bottom pane. First, they should be
over-under, not side-by-side, since they point up-down. Second, if they
look like that, I think they should be continuous controls, not isolated.
On the other hand, I'm not sure what the arrows actually control, so maybe
they should be replaced with a scroller of some kind, or they should be
side-by-side with arrows pointing left-right.
Finally, there's something un-Mac-like about the wording of the text,
especially the catch-all status line at the bottom of the main window.. I
can't really quantify it, but it seems too nattering, too chatty, too
verbose. A good design should be concise but clear. In Strunk and White's
little book "The Elements of Style", the verbose status line goes against
the dictum "Omit needless words". That book and a good thesaurus can be a
designer's best friend.
Also, the choice of terms seems too geeky. Is the word "record" in
"Artwork Record" in any way related to "record" of "LP Record"? Does the
"Rec No" in the bottom pane have any relationship to "Record"? Why put
"v2.4.0" in the title bar instead of in an About box? Is it necessary that
users always see this value? What does the "v" mean? If you're not
communicating in the language of your target audience, you have failed.
Personally, I consider good wording to be good design, regardless of
platform. It's not simply a matter of being Mac-like. Maybe it's that
"Mac-like" also means developers sweat the details like this.
-- GG
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