UI/UX Design Links
A collection of software, web, and desktop environment user interface design links.
Table of Contents
Design Philosophy & Critique
Essays, articles, and videos discussing interface design trends, complexity vs. simplicity, and the evolution of digital aesthetics.
Why I Love Ugly, Messy Interfaces (And You Probably Do Too)
- Jonas Downey argues that successful products like Craigslist, Photoshop, and Facebook often have complex, cluttered, or “ugly” interfaces because they solve big, hairy problems. Minimalism isn’t always the answer when utility is paramount.
The Death of Industrial Design and the Era of Dull Electronics
- Hackaday article discussing the shift from physical buttons, unique shapes, and “Y2K aesthetic” to the modern era of flat, featureless glass slabs and touch-only interfaces. It critiques the loss of tactile feedback and personality in consumer electronics.
A Windows Control Panel Retrospective Amidst a Concerning UX Shift
- Hackaday explores the history of the Windows Control Panel, comparing the utility and speed of the classic applets versus the modern, sprawling, and often less functional “Settings” apps in Windows 10/11.
- A deep technical and philosophical comparison of the design architecture of Windows NT (object-based, structured) versus Unix (file-based, monolithic/hybrid evolution), challenging the notion that one is inherently “better” or “more advanced” without context.
- A response to Jonas Downey’s “Ugly Interfaces” article. It argues that interfaces should be matched to the user’s role and frequency of use—simple for one-time mobile users, dense and efficient for power users (like notaries) who perform repetitive tasks.
Provisional Idea (Twitter Thread)
- Note: Content not directly accessible via archive, but context implies a discussion on interface design or software evolution.
The Trillion Dollar UX Problem
- Discusses the massive financial impact of bad UX, likely referencing the cost of frustrated users and failed projects.
- Dr. Susan Weinschenk explains the return on investment for UX. She breaks down how spending money on usability up front saves huge amounts in development rework, support costs, and lost sales later.
The Hidden Cost of “Clean” Design
- Video essay arguing that the shift from “personality” (Winamp, Windows XP) to invisible/clean interfaces wasn’t just technological evolution, but a cultural choice that erased the “author” from the machine and reduced user agency.
It’s hard to justify Tahoe icons
- Nikita Prokopov critiques the macOS Tahoe icons, arguing that they are distracting, illegible, and inconsistent, violating fundamental design principles laid out in Apple’s own 1992 Human Interface Guidelines.
Historical Case Studies
Deep dives into specific operating systems, applications, and historical moments in interface design.
The Windows 95 User Interface: A Case Study in Usability Engineering
- Kent Sullivan (Microsoft) details the iterative design process behind the Windows 95 UI. It reveals how usability testing led to major changes like the Start Menu and Taskbar, moving away from the Windows 3.1 paradigms.
- The ACM SIGCHI version of the Windows 95 case study, providing an academic record of the usability engineering work that defined modern desktop computing.
X Window System: TWM Unix GUI Wonderland
- A nostalgic look at TWM (Tab Window Manager) and the early days of the X Window System, highlighting the flexibility and rawness of early Unix graphical environments.
Frame of Preference (Aresluna)
- Marcin Wichary presents an interactive history of Mac System Preferences (and Control Panels) from 1984 to 2004. It visualizes how settings interfaces evolved from simple visual toggles to complex lists and back again.
Hartmut Esslinger’s Early Apple Computer and Tablet Designs
- A gallery of Hartmut Esslinger’s (frog design) concepts for Apple in the 1980s. Shows the “Snow White” design language prototypes, including early tablet concepts, phones, and workstations that never shipped but influenced the industry.
Google Reader Death 2013 RSS Social (The Verge)
- A retrospective on the shutdown of Google Reader, discussing the impact on the open web, RSS, and the shift towards algorithmic social media feeds.
Prototype of SPORE and other cool design stuff!
- A look at the prototyping phase of the game Spore, showcasing procedural generation and interface experiments that allowed for the game’s unique creative tools.
한메일 종이 Ajax UX 프로트타입 - Hanmail Paper Ajax User Experience (UX) Prototype
- A paper prototype example demonstrating early Ajax interactions for the Hanmail service.
Resources & Reference
Collections of design patterns, museums, and foundational texts.
- An online archive exhibiting over 2,000 websites from the years 1991 to 2006. It allows you to explore the visual history of the web, forgotten trends, and the evolution of web aesthetics.
- A resource or tool related to Google’s design or development initiatives (Context suggests a tool for sewing together design artifacts or similar).
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
- Edward Tufte’s classic book on data visualization. It champions clarity, precision, and efficiency in presenting data, coining terms like “chartjunk” and advocating for high data-ink ratios.
News
- Vietnam to limit online ad skip time to 5 seconds starting February 15
- Under a new regulation taking effect on February 15, online video and image-based ads in Vietnam must allow users to skip them within 5 seconds at most.
Typography & Readability
Focus on how text is rendered, read, and perceived on screens.
- Oskar Wickström explores a web aesthetic built entirely around monospace fonts. It demonstrates how grids, tables, and layouts can work beautifully with fixed-width typography, evoking a terminal-like but modern feel.
- Kevin Marks critiques the trend of low-contrast text (grey on white) in modern web design. He argues that aesthetics often trump legibility, excluding users with vision impairments and making the web harder to read for everyone.
Word Recognition (Microsoft Typography)
- A deep dive into the science of how we read. It debunks the “Bouma shape” (word outline) theory and presents evidence for the Parallel Letter Recognition model, explaining why typography choices matter for reading speed and comprehension.