The State of the GUI

[rjframe]

On Wed, 24 Oct 2018 18:39:20 -0700, Adam Wilson wrote:

> On 10/24/18 5:22 PM, Neia Neutuladh wrote:
>> Consistency between platforms makes it a little easier to write
>> documentation. Users get annoyed by applications that don't work like
>> other applications on their platform.
>> 
> I've see this assertion made many times usually by developers who've
> never worked on a UX for non-technical people and always without any
> corroborating evidence.
> 
...
>
> One thing I can say with confidence is that the average user wants each
> app to behave consistently regardless of where they using them. [snip...]
> 
...
> 
> However, if I design an app that looks the same and functions the same
> across platforms (mobile, web, desktop) then the brain develops
> shortcuts for things like button color, menu ordering, etc.

Yes and no. These design elements are most important for people that use 
an app on multiple devices - which is often less common that we tend to 
think (at least for the next 2-3 years). But there are UI adjustments that 
need to be system-specific.

I'm sysadmin/helpdesk; I'm the one that helps people save their email 
attachments, extract files from a zip archive, explains why they didn't 
actually save that document because the OK and Cancel buttons are in the 
wrong order...

Whenever people struggle to understand how something works, I ask them to 
describe what they expect. People tend to have pretty reasonable 
expectations -- the way people want the software to work often makes more 
sense than the actual design. I've come to see non-technical people that 
just want to get some task done as more reliable designers than those of 
us to can fall into the habit of making the tech itself the important 
thing.

For major elements, like descriptions, menu order, button color, yes, the 
application on every platform needs to be consistent *if* it's a multi-
platform application; otherwise it should definitely follow system 
guidelines (on macOS, the OK button should be blue). In other areas, 
design elements need to be adjusted by that platform. Windows places OK on 
the left, Cancel on the right; macOS is the reverse - and if you're 
application gets it wrong, your end-user will not be happy with you.

--Ryan