Source Column For Preferences?
In the new Finder, Apple makes a step toward removing specific objects like "Macintosh HD" and "Applications" from the toolbar and placing them in an iApp-style source column down the side of the window. This makes sense, not only because it fits in well with column view and the single window iApp style, but because the toolbar is a control that has historically been filled with shortcuts to menu items. Menu items almost always tend to be actions, not objects. When objects do appear in menus, it tends to be as a convenience feature, like in a Bookmarks menu, a Go menu or the old Apple menu.
Preferences windows' toolbars under Mac OS X are a contradiction to this form, and are filled entirely with objects, not actions. In System Preferences, I recall there being a menu with all the panels in it, but this seems to be there to make the toolbar appear to make sense, rather than to act as a convenience feature. I don't think the toolbar is the right control for the job.
I thought it might be better to toss out the toolbar, the related menu and the "Show All" section of Preferences windows in favour of a simple iApp-style source column down the side. That seems as though it would extend the use of the familiar iApp concept while also being conceptually pure and simple. What do you think?
Preferences windows' toolbars under Mac OS X are a contradiction to this form, and are filled entirely with objects, not actions. In System Preferences, I recall there being a menu with all the panels in it, but this seems to be there to make the toolbar appear to make sense, rather than to act as a convenience feature. I don't think the toolbar is the right control for the job.
I thought it might be better to toss out the toolbar, the related menu and the "Show All" section of Preferences windows in favour of a simple iApp-style source column down the side. That seems as though it would extend the use of the familiar iApp concept while also being conceptually pure and simple. What do you think?
Comments
The difference between that example and the one I'm thinking of is a resizable icon next to the text to save space. Plus the window would be bigger. A downside is that the list down the side would limit the amount that the window can be automatically resized without cutting off content.
I was actually thinking of the Joel on Software article with that picture in it when I started this thread. It was on tabs versus scrolling lists (a la screenshot) in multi-paned windows. Microsoft found tabs to be more effective, and I'm assuming it was they provided a strong visual connection between the content and the tab, in contrast with the list at the side, where the list items and their related content are visually separated by both a line and the relatively huge scroll bar. Another potential difference is that tabs appear above the content, but I don't think that's it. I'm not a psychologist though.
The article sort of applies to this topic, but in this case, the "tab" interface approximated by the toolbar is hindered by containing only a portion of the choices available, in addition to some other potential deficits, like not having that same visual connection to the content.
Originally posted by Mac The Fork
I thought it might be better to toss out the toolbar, the related menu and the "Show All" section of Preferences windows in favour of a simple iApp-style source column down the side. That seems as though it would extend the use of the familiar iApp concept while also being conceptually pure and simple. What do you think?
That not too different from the old NeXT style pref panel setup: except that it was a "source row" across the top, with those big pretty icons and a scroll bar below them -- not a toolbar. The big icons made for a lot of scrolling, but having them across the top doesn't impede automatic resizing up and down. As for the visual connection angle (like in a tabbed interface), having one of those those huge icons all highlighted-like makes a pretty good visual connection, albeit one that can be scrolled out of view.
The current Sys Prefs interface is certainly inconsistent -- you're right about that. While the NeXT setup isn't perfect, it would solve the inconsistency issue, and probably would be the easiest for Apple to substitute for what they've got.