A Good Style Guide Under the Creative Commons? 131
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?
Re:Not really sure what you're looking for, but... (Score:2, Interesting)
The GNOME HIG is, in fact, licensed under the GFDL, which effectively meets the Creative Commons request. It's definitely a good place to start.
But when using those, remember they're tied to the individual desktop. Things that are standard under GNOME and Apple are reversed under Windows. (For example, Windows always uses "Yes/No/Cancel" while both GNOME and Apple recommend using action verbs. Plus Windows generally places the most used option in the hardest to hit location while GNOME and Apple place it in the easiest to hit.)
The important part here is that the software should follow the guidelines for the platform it's running on. Not following them will just annoy people using that platform.
I'm also not sure that's what he's looking for. Those are guidelines for an entire OS and not a software suite. In a software suite, you'd want to make sure that certain workflows are always handled in a similar manner. You also want to make sure icons follow a single art style. For example, a common palette and a common set of icon elements. (Like the envelope in email clients which are often used in the Compose/Reply/Reply All/Forward buttons.) These things are somewhat covered in an OS HIG, but are sort of outside the scope.
Sadly it appears that very few open source projects actually create such documents.
And now I send this post to disappear, because apparently anonymous posts aren't worth mentioning, even with a "hidden posts" link.
Curly Brace OK/Cancel (Score:3, Interesting)
Try this HCI web comic, I don't think it is updated anymore but there's lots of great archives:
http://www.ok-cancel.com/ [ok-cancel.com]
Re:Wrong question... (Score:4, Interesting)
When geeks design a Style Guide, it looks like this [ieee.org]. Simple, elegant, uncluttered.
When the weenies in Marketing design a Style Guide, the audience ends up trying to punch a psychedelic virtual monkey. Please don't suggest anything that would put marketing personnel in a position to produce anything that will guide me, thankyouverymuch.
Re:Not really sure what you're looking for, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
No you don't - the rightmost button is the 2nd, or 3rd, or 4th, or whatever - it varies with the number of buttons.
Putting the default as FIRST would mean always hitting the same location.
The right-hand side is the wrong one in LTR locales.
It isn't "the easiest to hit" unless the window/dialog/whatever is always a fixed size. Otherwise, its position is floating, and it is the last in a series of "N" buttons, instead of the first, requiring you to scan all the previous buttons.
In contrast, the left-most button, as the first, is the first to be seen in LTR locales, the first to be read, and if its what you're looking for (as the default action) you need go no further.
Before GUIs, the default action in most apps was almost always the leftmost. All Windows did was copy that. It makes sense.