GUI patterns

Jeff Atwood

16 Aug 2004 — 1 min read — Comments

With all this talk of high-falutin’ coding design patterns, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more sites that cover GUI design patterns, like welie.com*. What a great site!

Consider the iPod: it’s a 2.5″ hard drive, strapped to a battery and a LCD, that plays MP3 files. Dozens of other taiwanese manufacturers make products exactly like this, but Apple is the only company making a fortune at it, and inspiring fanatical product loyalty. Why? It has the most usable interface.

The mechanical things (coding patterns) are actually quite easy. It’s the soft GUI stuff that is difficult, and that’s ultimately what makes your product sexy, desirable – and a success. We may think coding patterns are sexy, but they’re invisible to users.

*via HMK’s very cool blog.

Recent Posts

An interactive TWiT Series You're the hero of the story! Choose from 1,024 possible endings. OFF by ONE with Jeff Atwood Hosted by Leo Laporte "every choice changes everything!"

Every Choice Changes Everything: The Show

About 3 weeks ago, Leo Laporte and I recorded the first episode of what will be a new monthly show on the TWiT network. Naming things is hard, and we almost voted on the name, like we did for Stack Overflow, but we quickly landed on Off By One with

Thank You For Being a Friend

It's been one of those months, and by that, I mean one of the 663 months since I was born. This won't be a long post, because I only have two things to say. First, I'm really glad we re-ordered the GMI (Guaranteed

map of the United States via rgmii.org showing all 3,143 counties by rural (gold) / metro (grey) and population

Launching The Rural Guaranteed Minimum Income Initiative

It's been a year since I invited Americans to join us in a pledge to Share the American Dream: 1. Support organizations you feel are effectively helping those most in need across America right now. 2. Within the next five years, also contribute public dedications of time or

The Road Not Taken is Guaranteed Minimum Income

The dream is incomplete until we share it with our fellow Americans.

I’m feeling unlucky... 🎲 See All Posts