Building Cocoa Applications: A Step by Step Guide

User Interface Design

Although not strictly a development tool, user interface design is certainly something that developers need to be concerned about. Some developers spend far too little time designing the user interface of an application, yet that is the part that makes the first impression on most users. An application’s user interface may well determine its success or failure.

To properly address all user interface design issues would take another book. However, user interface design is so important that we’ve listed a few tips for novice designers here:

• When developing a new application, create the user interface first. Then the user interface will more likely be written for the user, not the programmer. There’s nothing worse than making an interface conform to code. Remember, you are writing your application for users, not for yourself.

• Don’t put too many windows on the screen when your application is launched. If you do, the user may be confused and may not even know where the focus of your application lies. Also, don’t start up your application with windows overlapping one another.

• Don’t violate users’ expectations. In part, this means that you should follow the Aqua user interface guidelines for menus, windows, panels, and so on. If you don’t have the time to read the interface guidelines (they are long, but are discussed throughout Chapter 1), try to make your application look and work like other Aqua applications, such as the Finder, Mail, and TextEdit.

• Don’t confuse ...