GUI : Java Glossary

Roedy’s Rules

Here of my rules of thumb, derived mostly from interecting with ineptly designed software:

• I know the latest feature, always seems the most important, but clutter a menu of commonly used commands with it, unless it is commonly used.
• Don’t make it too easy to do something that might put the system into a state the user might not like, or that he might not know how to undo. For example, hitting Ctrl-G should not remap your keyboard to Greek.
• The things the user is most likely to do next should be possible with a single click. He should not have to chase down a multi-level menu tree bypassing options almost never used.
• Keep installation and configuring controls off to the side where they can be nearly always ignored/avoided.
• Any panel containing something the user is currently composing or reading should be instantly available with a single click on a single row of tabs.
• Dialog boxes shold not block you from doing thing to help resolve the problem: e.g. checking free disk space, consuliting online manual, looking up a customer record etc.
• Dialog boxes should not hide under ather windows in their own application.
• Open dialog boxes should not prevent you from minimising the app as a whole.
• If a button is disabled, hovering a the mouse cursor over it should tell you why.

Books

Book referral for GUI Bloopers 2.0: Don’ts and Do’s for Software Developers and Web Designers

	recommend book⇒GUI Bloopers 2.0: Don’ts and Do’s for Software Developers and Web Designers
	by	Jeff Johnson	978-0-12-370643-0	paperback
	publisher	Morgan Kaufmann	978-0-08-055214-9	eBook
	published	2007-10-12	B006L1ZUWU	kindle
Works by analysing 82 examples of bad design.
Online bookstores carrying GUI Bloopers 2.0: Don’ts and Do’s for Software Developers and Web Designers abe books anz abe books.ca abe books.de amazon.ca amazon.de Chapters Indigo amazon.es Chapters Indigo eBooks iberlibro.com abe books.com abe books.fr amazon.com amazon.fr Barnes & Noble abe books.it Nook at Barnes & Noble amazon.it Kobo junglee.com Google play abe books.co.uk O’Reilly Safari amazon.co.uk Powells other stores
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock. Try looking for it with a bookfinder.

Book referral for About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design

	recommend book⇒About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design
	by	Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann, David Cronin	978-0-470-08411-3	paperback
	birth	1952-06-03 age:65	978-0-470-17135-6	eBook
	publisher	Wiley	B001C323BI	kindle
	published	2007-05-07
Online bookstores carrying About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design abe books anz abe books.ca abe books.de amazon.ca amazon.de Chapters Indigo amazon.es Chapters Indigo eBooks iberlibro.com abe books.com abe books.fr amazon.com amazon.fr Barnes & Noble abe books.it Nook at Barnes & Noble amazon.it Kobo junglee.com Google play abe books.co.uk O’Reilly Safari amazon.co.uk Powells other stores
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock. Try looking for it with a bookfinder.

Book referral for The Humane Interface

	recommend book⇒The Humane Interface
	by	Jef Raskin	978-0-201-37937-2	paperback
	birth	1943-03-09 2005-02-26 age:61
	publisher	Addison-Wesley
	published	2000-04-08
Raskin is one of the original designers of the Apple Macintosh and also a cognitive psychologist.
Online bookstores carrying The Humane Interface abe books anz abe books.ca abe books.de amazon.ca amazon.de Chapters Indigo amazon.es Chapters Indigo eBooks iberlibro.com abe books.com abe books.fr amazon.com amazon.fr Barnes & Noble abe books.it Nook at Barnes & Noble amazon.it Kobo junglee.com Google play abe books.co.uk O’Reilly Safari amazon.co.uk Powells other stores
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock. Try looking for it with a bookfinder.

Book referral for Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques

	recommend book⇒Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques
	by	Kevin Mullet, Darrell Sano (Contributor)	978-0-13-303389-2	paperback
	publisher	Prentice Hall
	published	1994-12-15
This is not a cookbook, but a book on basic principles focusing on elegance and simplicity; scale, contrast and proportion; organization and visual structure; module and program; image and representation; and style. I find it ironic that their book cover looks so bad in miniature.
Online bookstores carrying Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques abe books anz abe books.ca abe books.de amazon.ca amazon.de Chapters Indigo amazon.es Chapters Indigo eBooks iberlibro.com abe books.com abe books.fr amazon.com amazon.fr Barnes & Noble abe books.it Nook at Barnes & Noble amazon.it Kobo junglee.com Google play abe books.co.uk O’Reilly Safari amazon.co.uk Powells other stores
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Book referral for The Design of Everyday Things

	recommend book⇒The Design of Everyday Things
	by	Donald A. Norman	978-0-385-26774-8	paperback
	birth	1935-12-25 age:82	978-0-465-06709-1	hardcover
	publisher	Currency	978-0-465-00394-5	eBook
	published	1990-02-01	978-1-4526-0412-1	audio
			B003KVKYAM	kindle
Though this is not particularly about designing GUIs, I love this book. It was like meeting somebody else who understood my frustration with the ineptness in the design of user interfaces for computer programs, household appliances and just about anything mechanical. He grabbed ill-formed ideas out of my mind and laid them clearly on paper. A classic. The principles behind creating simple, useful, easy to understand appliances. Much of this thinking also applies to computer programs. This is a great read, highly entertaining. This book is sold under three alternate ISBNS: paperback:978-0-465-06710-7, 978-0-465-05065-9, 978-0-385-26774-8.
Online bookstores carrying The Design of Everyday Things abe books anz abe books.ca abe books.de amazon.ca amazon.de Chapters Indigo amazon.es Chapters Indigo eBooks iberlibro.com abe books.com abe books.fr amazon.com amazon.fr Barnes & Noble abe books.it Nook at Barnes & Noble amazon.it Kobo junglee.com Google play abe books.co.uk O’Reilly Safari amazon.co.uk Powells other stores
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock. Try looking for it with a bookfinder.