Re: Look And Feel (Guidelines
Re: Look And Feel (Guidelines
- Subject: Re: Look And Feel (Guidelines
- From: Rajpaul Bagga <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 16:43:44 -0700
If customers want to see the standard aqua, to avoid "feelings of
uncertainty in users"; if this is so important, then can you explain
iTunes? It doesn't have a standard Title bar. Its expand "plus" button
(what's it called?) brings the UI to a completely different state, with
the Red/Yellow/Green buttons on the side. The resize corner design is
larger than a standard window. The whole thing has this brushed metal
look and is draggable by all areas of that "metal". None of this fits in
with the "visual consistency users expect", at least not that I can see.
This entire application, produced by Apple, appears to me to violate all
the recommendations you are mentioning.
-Rajpaul
On Thursday, July 12, 2001, at 10:43 AM, John Geleynse wrote:
Is there an easy way to custumize the Look And Feel (skin) with
Cocoa Appkit?
<snip>
And it's not recommended, is it ?
No it is not. The visual appearance of Mac OS X is to our system
software
what our industrial design is to our hardware. Customers see it and
want it.
People who use Macintosh computers want all their applications-whether
they're spreadsheets, word-processors, Email and Internet browsers,
accounting products, or design tools-to have the consistency, intuitive
design, and ease of use that's characteristic of Macintosh software.
Altering the appearance of an application on Mac OS X through skins, or
similar mechanisms, isn't recommended since it affects the visual
consistency users expect. Interface elements that look different from
what
users are accustomed to can cause feelings of uncertainty in users not
sure
of what will happen when they interact with a non-standard interface
element
and can affect the usability of an application since standard visual
cues
have been changed.
If you are absolutely determined to skin your Mac OS X application, make
sure your default skin is an authentic appearance-savvy Mac OS X
version.
Check out http://developer.apple.com/ue for detailed information about
Aqua
and for links to Cocoa specific developer documentation.
John Geleynse
User Experience Technology Manager
Apple Worldwide Developer Relations
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