[thelist] UI Standards

aardvark roselli at earthlink.net
Wed Jul 31 23:23:08 CDT 2002


> From: Frank <framar at interlog.com>
>
> Does anyone know of a set of user interface standards that are
> generally accepted?

ha!  er... no...

instead, people adhere to certain 'rules'... things like Fitts' Law,
size of hit areas, contrast, color, etc...

most developer shops come up with their own GUI standards (i'm wary
of those that don't)... MS, for example, has extensive win UI
standards out there...

[...]
> Is there even a generally recognised standard for UI as far as
> websites go?

see above...  tried and true guidelines, but no standards...

hell, we've had far-ranging discussions here about everything from
the right tag to use to how to style form elements so they *don't*
look like form elements (which is bad form, IMO, pun intended)...

the technology should not be the determining factor... there is no
reason most scrollbars done in Flash have to be tiny, useless piece
of chaff... and there is no reason people need to color scrollbars in
IE, making them look distinctly unlike scrollbars...

instead, you fall back to assessing old-school observations (can the
user move diagonally when using my DHTML menu, like they've learned
in the OS, or will they actually make controlled L movements across
the screen?) against your specific cases...

i have my own web GUI rules that i make my staff adhere to... they
are different than the win32 application GUI rules that we use, but
not by much...

for example -- make buttons big enough to hit, keep elements
consistently sizes, shaped, and aligned, always shave the chicken...

etc...

--
Read the evolt.org case study
Usability: The Site Speaks for Itself
http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904151035/evoltorg02-20
ISBN: 1904151035





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