Matt,
I think what you are describing here has a lot to do with
expectations. As a Mac user, I expect an application that I install
and run locally to look and behave like a standard Mac app following
Mac OS conventions. When I use an app that has been poorly ported from
a Windows version, and it has, say, the Okay button on the left and
the Cancel button on the right, it annoys me. However, when I'm using
a web app, I don't expect it to look or behave like my desktop apps.
Certainly, there are still conventions that I expect it to follow, but
I am more open to "different" UI patterns.
Best,
Jack
On Sep 9, 2008, at 3:51 PM, Matt Doe wrote:
Certain windows applications like Picasa have a non-native look and
feel, but they can get away with this very easily because it still
follows a lot of windows conventions like the primary color being a
shade of grey and using soft borders around buttons, etc...
Then you have the polar opposite like iTunes on windows or even more
extreme, some Adobe Air applications like eBay desktop, where the
look-and-feel deviates so far from the platform it just feels awkward
to use it. What I find interesting is that web applications have a
non-native look-and-feel (gmail, facebook, etc...), but they are no
less usable and don't feel awkward to use. Maybe it's because it's
wrapped in a native browser?
Jack L. Moffett
Interaction Designer
inmedius
412.459.0310 x219
http://www.inmedius.com
Design is like California.
No one is born there.
-Dick Buchanan
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