The different levels of software beauty

http://www.hollance.com/2010/10/the-different-levels-of-software-beauty/

by nimeshneema • 15 years ago

1 1 15 years ago

ShawnJG• 15 years ago

I have to say I agree with most of what he said. These are really basic tenets of design. The only thing I take exception to is number 6...the source code beautification. I don't necessarily agree with his logic here. "Ugly source" is not necessarily buggy. I know you can take "ugly source" a number of different ways, but let's assume that you are good at writing software and check for bugs. Some projects have over 1 million lines of code it may not always be pretty, but it can work bug free. The only exception, I believe is open source. If you're creating something explicitly to be used in the wild, you should try to make that as clean as possible.

On another note, in between what is a Microsoft user experience and an Apple user experience, there should be an open platform that gives me a streamlined, intuitive user interface as good as Apples. I'm by no means an Apple fan boy. Far from it actually. But I cannot deny the attention Apple gives to user experience. But in actuality they still use a one-size-fits-all approach. With the processing power we now have in our computers, we should be working on machines that conform to us the more we use them. We apply behavioral analysis to almost everything digital and online, let's translate that over to user interface. New operating systems be it from Apple, Microsoft or Google, should all start out with the widest possible options and conform to our behavior the more we use it. Personal computing should go way beyond the aesthetic of my desktop and start menu. I know you can make keyboard shortcuts, macros and favorites. But I'm talking about a deeply customizable interface as unique as me and my habits. My computer should be learning me instead of me learning it.

The different levels of software beauty

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