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This! That was, IMO, a golden era for UI design. We've lost SOO much to the wild west experimentation brought on by the advent of touch interfaces. A really str

This! That was, IMO, a golden era for UI design. We've lost SOO much to the wild west experimentation brought on by the advent of touch interfaces. A really strong shared design language across apps and vendors is an unbelievably valuable productivity enhancer that lets people apply the intuition they've learned in one app to a UI in a different app that they've never seen before. When everyone tries to make their app look and feel and operate with uniqueness and visual distinction, much is lost.

wlesieutre 15d ago
In the words of the old HIG: Consistency in the interface allows users to transfer their knowledge and skills from one application to another. Use the standard elements of the Aqua interface to ensure consistency within your application and to benefit from consistency across applications. Ask yourself the following questions when thinking about consistency in your product: - Is it consistent with Mac OS X standards? For example, does the application use the reserved and recommended keyboard equivalents (see "Keyboard Shortcuts Quick Reference" (page 309)) for their correct purposes? Is it Aqua-compliant? Does it use the solutions to standard tasks Mac OS X provides? (For more information on these solutions, see "Using Mac OS X Technologies" (page 61).) - Is it consistent within itself? Does it use consistent terminology for labels and features? Do icons mean the same thing every time they are used? Are concepts presented in similar ways across all modules? Are similar controls and other user interface elements located in similar places in windows and dialogs? - Is it consistent with earlier versions of the product? Have the terms and meanings remained the same between releases? Are the fundamental concepts essentially unchanged? - Is it consistent with people’s expectations? Does it meet the needs of the user without extraneous features? Does it conform to the user’s mental model? (For more information on this concept, see "Reflect the User’s Mental Model" (page 40).) Meeting everyone’s expectations is the most difficult kind of consistency to achieve, especially if your product is likely to be used by an audience with a wide range of expertise. You can address this problem by carefully weighing the consistency issues in the context of your target audience and their needs. See "Know Your Audience " (page 25) for more information on how to define your audience Compared to today's version https://i.imgur.com/OfFcJ0k.png https://i.imgur.com/OfFcJ0k.png
- dmix 15d ago
  You were filtering the sidebar for "consistency", that's not a search box. From 2026 HIG: > Create a list of common terms, and reference that list to keep your language consistent. Consistent language, along with a voice that reflects your app’s values, helps everything feel more cohesive. > Build language patterns. Consistency builds familiarity, helping your app feel cohesive, intuitive, and thoughtfully designed. It also makes writing for your app easier, as you can return to these patterns again and again. https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/writing https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guideline... I'm sure there's others But otherwise I agree I liked old MacOS design.
  - wlesieutre 15d ago
    Oh you're right, well in that case I'd like to complain about turning the big PDF into a linked web document and not giving it an obvious whole-HIG search box. Worse experience than cmd-F 20 years ago.

wlesieutre 15d ago

In the words of the old HIG: Consistency in the interface allows users to transfer their knowledge and skills from one application to another. Use the standard elements of the Aqua interface to ensure consistency within your application and to benefit from consistency across applications. Ask yourself the following questions when thinking about consistency in your product: - Is it consistent with Mac OS X standards? For example, does the application use the reserved and recommended keyboard equivalents (see "Keyboard Shortcuts Quick Reference" (page 309)) for their correct purposes? Is it Aqua-compliant? Does it use the solutions to standard tasks Mac OS X provides? (For more information on these solutions, see "Using Mac OS X Technologies" (page 61).) - Is it consistent within itself? Does it use consistent terminology for labels and features? Do icons mean the same thing every time they are used? Are concepts presented in similar ways across all modules? Are similar controls and other user interface elements located in similar places in windows and dialogs? - Is it consistent with earlier versions of the product? Have the terms and meanings remained the same between releases? Are the fundamental concepts essentially unchanged? - Is it consistent with people’s expectations? Does it meet the needs of the user without extraneous features? Does it conform to the user’s mental model? (For more information on this concept, see "Reflect the User’s Mental Model" (page 40).) Meeting everyone’s expectations is the most difficult kind of consistency to achieve, especially if your product is likely to be used by an audience with a wide range of expertise. You can address this problem by carefully weighing the consistency issues in the context of your target audience and their needs. See "Know Your Audience " (page 25) for more information on how to define your audience Compared to today's version https://i.imgur.com/OfFcJ0k.png https://i.imgur.com/OfFcJ0k.png

dmix 15d ago
You were filtering the sidebar for "consistency", that's not a search box. From 2026 HIG: > Create a list of common terms, and reference that list to keep your language consistent. Consistent language, along with a voice that reflects your app’s values, helps everything feel more cohesive. > Build language patterns. Consistency builds familiarity, helping your app feel cohesive, intuitive, and thoughtfully designed. It also makes writing for your app easier, as you can return to these patterns again and again. https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/writing https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guideline... I'm sure there's others But otherwise I agree I liked old MacOS design.
- wlesieutre 15d ago
  Oh you're right, well in that case I'd like to complain about turning the big PDF into a linked web document and not giving it an obvious whole-HIG search box. Worse experience than cmd-F 20 years ago.