Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines A VV yelseW-nosiddA gnihsilbuP ynapmoC Reading, Massachusetts Menlo Park, California New kroY Don Mills, Ontario Wokingham, England Amsterdam Bonn Sydney Singapore Tokyo Madrid San Juan Paris Seoul Milan Mexico City Taipei Apple Computer, Inc. LIMITED YTNARRAW ON MEDIA AND © 1992, Apple Computer, Inc. TNEMECALPER All rights reserved. LLA IMPLIED SEITNARRAW ON THIS No part of this publication may be ,LAUNAM INCLUDING IMPLIED reproduced, stored in a retrieval SEITNARRAW OF YTILIBATNAHCREM system, or transmitted, in any form or AND FITNESS ROF A RALUCITRAP by any means, mechanical, electronic, ,ESOPRUP ERA LIMITED IN DURATION photocopying, recording, or otherwise, TO YTENIN )09( SYAD FROM EHT ETAD without prior written permission of FO EHT ORIGINAL LIATER ESAHCRUP Apple Computer, Inc. Printed in the FO THIS .TCUDORP United States of America. 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Simultaneously published in the United States and Canada. Contents Figures and Tables xiii About This Book Preface xxi Who Should Read This Book xxi What's New in Macintosh Human Interface From Apple xxii About Making It Macintosh xxii What's in This Book xxii The Basic Philosophy xxii The Interface Elements xxiii Appendixes xxiii Visual Cues Used in This Book xxiii Fundamentals Part 1 Human Interface selpicnirP Chapter 1 3 The Human Interface Design Principles 4 Metaphors 4 Direct Manipulation 5 See-and-Point 7 Consistency 7 WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) User Control 9 Feedback and Dialog 9 Forgiveness 01 Perceived Stability 11 Aesthetic Integrity 11 Modelessness 21 Additional Issues to Consider 31 Knowledge of Your Audience 31 Accessibility 41 General Design Considerations Chapter 2 51 Worldwide Compatibility 61 Cultural Values 71 Resources 71 iii Language Differences 81 Text Display and Text Editing 91 Default Alignment of Interface Elements 02 Keyboards 22 Fonts 32 Universal Access 42 People With a Physical Disability 52 People With a Visual Disability 52 People With a Hearing Disability 62 People With a Speech or Language Disability 72 People With a Seizure Disorder 27 Collaborative Computing 27 Concern for Other Users 82 User Identification 82 Access Privileges 82 Passwords 92 Data Encrypfion for Security 03 Clear Communications 03 Displaying the Current State of Data 30 Communicating With Other Environments 13 Network Transparency 13 Human Interface Design and the Development Process 33 Chapter 3 Design Decisions 43 Features Inspired by Market Pressures 43 Feature Cascade 53 The 08 Percent Solution 53 Managing Complexity 53 Using Progressive Disclosure 53 Implementing Preferences 37 Extending the Interface 83 When to Go Beyond the Guidelines 38 ' Build on the Existing Interface 93 Don't Assign New Behaviors to Existing Objects 93 Create a New Interface Element Cautiously 04 Involving Users in the Design Process 14 Define Your Audience 14 Analyze Tasks 14 Build Prototypes 42 Observe Users 24 neT Steps for Conducting a User Observation 34 iv Part 2 The Interface Elements 47 Chapter 4 Menus 49 The Menu Bar 52 Menu Behavior 55 Menu Elements 58 Menu Item Names 58 Grouping Items in Menus 60 Menu Dividers 62 Standard Characters and Text Style in Menus 64 Checkmarks and Dashes in Menus 64 The Ellipsis Character in Menus 67 A Diamond Mark in the Application Menu 17 Avoid Nonstandard Marks in Menus 72 Text Styles in Menus 73 Toggled Menu Items 75 Scrolling Menus 87 Hierarchical Menus 79 Pop-Up Menus 82 Standard Pop-Up Menus 87 Type-In Pop-Up Menus 19 Tear-Off Menus and Palettes 92 Tear-Off Menus 93 Palettes 96 Standard Macintosh Menus 98 The Apple Menu 98 About 98 File Menu 99 New 99 Open 101 Close 102 Save 104 Save As 106 Revert 107 Page Setup... 108 Print... 108 Quit 109 The Edit Menu 109 The Clipboard 111 Undo/Redo 311 Cut 411 Copy 511 Paste 511 Clear 711 Select All 711 Show Clipboard/Hide Clipboard 711 Create Publisher... 711 Subscribe To... 811 Publisher/Subscriber Options... 811 The Font Menu 021 The Size Menu 221 The Style Menu 421 The Help Menu 521 The Keyboard Menu 521 The Application Menu 721 Keyboard Equivalents 821 Chapter 5 Windows 131 Window Appearance 431 Document Window Controls 431 Use of Color in Windows 531 Utility Windows 731 Window Behaviors 931 The Active Window 931 Opening Windows 141 Window Display Order 341 Window Positions 641 The Default Position on a Single Screen 741 The Default Position on Multiple Screens 841 Dialog Box and Alert Box Positions 051 Closing a Window 251 Moving a Window 451 Changing the Size of a Window 651 Scrolling a Window 851 Scroll Bars 851 Scrolling With the Scroll Arrows 361 Scrolling With the Gray Area 461 Scrolling by Dragging the Scroll Box 461 Automatic Scrolling 661 The Zoom Box and Window Behavior 168 Splitting a Window 071 Window Pane Behavior 271 One Split per Orientation 371 vi retpahC 6 Dialog Boxes 175 Modeless Dialog Boxes 871 Modeless Dialog xoB Appearance 971 Modeless Dialog xoB Behaviors 181 Menu Bar Access 181 Accepting Changes in a Modeless Dialog xoB 281 Completing Commands 481 Movable Modal Dialog Boxes 581 Movable Modal Dialog xoB Appearance 681 Movable Modal Dialog xoB Behaviors 781 Menu Bar Access 781 Modal Dialog Boxes 881 Modal Dialog xoB Appearance 091 Modal Dialog xoB Behaviors 191 Menu Bar Access 191 Stacking Modal Dialog Boxes 291 Alert Boxes 391 Alert xoB Appearance 491 Note Alert Boxes 491 Caution Alert Boxes 591 Stop Alert Boxes 691 Basic Dialog xoB Layout 691 Keyboard Navigation in Dialog Boxes 891 Dialog xoB Messages 991 Standard File Dialog Boxes 002 Save Changes Alert xoB 102 retpahC 7 Controls 302 Standard Toolbox Controls 402 Buttons 402 Button Behavior 502 Button Names 602 Radio Buttons 012 Checkboxes 112 Controls Not Supported by the Macintosh Toolbox 412 Sliders 412 Little Arrows 612 Outline Triangles 812 Other Elements for User Interaction 812 Text Entry Fields 912 Scrolling Lists 022 vii retpahC 8 snocI 223 Why Icons Work 224 Limitations of Icons 227 Designing Effective Icons 229 Use Appropriate Metaphors 229 Think About Worldwide Compatibility 230 Avoid Text in Icons 230 Design for the Macintosh Display 132 Use a Consistent Light Source 232 Optimize for Your Target Display 232 Maintain a Consistent Visual Appearance in an Icon Family 233 Use Icon Elements Consistently 332 The Finder Icon Family 234 An Icon Design Process 236 Black-and-White Icons 238 Color Icons 238 Icon Colors 240 • The Apple Icon Color Set 240 Degradation of the Color Set Across Monitors 142 Selection Mechanism for Color Icons 142 Color Labeling Mechanism for Color Icons 242 Anti-Aliasing 243 Small Icons 244 Default and Custom Icons 245 Application Icons 246 Document Icons 247 Stationery Pad Icons 248 Query Document Icons 249 Edition Icons 250 Preferences Icons 250 Extension Icons 250 Control Panel Icons 152 Movable Resource Icons 252 Keyboard Icons 252 retpahC 9 Color 257 Color Design of Standard Interface Elements 258 Windows and Dialog Boxes 258 Menus 260 Pointers 260 Highlighting and Selection 260 viii Color Application Guidelines 162 Match Complexity to the Level of User 162 Design for the Macintosh 262 Design for Black and White First 362 Limit the Number of Colors 462 Colors on Gray 562 Beware of Blue 562 Small Objects 562 Color for Categorizing Information 562 Chapter 01 Behaviors 267 The Pointing Device 862 Mouse Actions 172 Clicking 172 Double-Clicking 272 Pressing 372 Dragging 472 The Keyboard 572 Character Keys 572 Enter 572 Tab 672 Return 672 Delete (or Backspace) 772 Clear 772 Escape 772 Modifier Keys 872 Shift 872 Caps Lock 972 Option 972 Command 082 Control 082 Type-Ahead and Auto-Repeat 082 International Keyboards 182 Arrow Keys 182 Appropriate Uses for the Arrow Keys 182 Moving the Insertion Point 282 Moving the Insertion Point in Empty Documents 282 Using Modifier Keys With Arrow Keys 282 Function Keys 482 Help 582 Forward Delete (Del) 582 Home 582 End 582 Page Up 682 Page Down 682 ix