设计与产品socket3.wordpress.com编辑精选
Windows 95 用户界面的设计过程
Designing Windows 95’s User Interface
2018 — 2019，它一次次回到首页
黑点是上首页（≥ 50 分）的那次投稿，空心点是没冲上去的投稿，点越大分数越高。
导读
这篇文章回顾 Windows 95 用户界面的设计过程：任务栏、开始按钮等如今习以为常的元素如何被设计出来，以及团队如何通过可用性测试去理解第一次用电脑的人。评论区补充说，原文作者是 Kent Sullivan（不是 Kevin）。
为什么经久不衰：它记录了一次奠基性的桌面 GUI 设计实践：大量今天仍在使用的交互范式，以及围绕新手用户做取舍和测试的方法，至今值得设计师和工程师回看。
HN 评论精选
Win95 的 GUI 重设计是微软成功的关键，其任务栏等设计至今令人怀念；评论还附了 Chicago 评审指南 PDF。
很难回想起来，但即便 Windows 3.11 当时极其强势，Windows 95 也绝非注定成功。最早的版本在一些大方面严重失手（例如 MSN 是集成进桌面的文件夹；我当时以为不支持 TCP/IP，后来更正说其实支持），但 GUI 的底层重设计实在太好，把微软推向了新的普及高度。和当时的 CDE、IBM Presentation Manager 甚至 Mac OS 8 相比，根本不在一个层次。Windows 95 巩固了微软的主导地位，但若搞砸也可能反过来侵蚀它。我日常用 Mac 十多年，仍怀念任务栏和窗口式 GUI；在 macOS 上最小化窗口后还得四处找，依然让我抓狂。我不会换回 Windows，因为其系统和文件系统底层很糟，但我仍怀念那个界面。补充：找到一份很棒的《Chicago Reviewers Guide》PDF，讲了 Win95 的众多新东西——TrueType 字体、即插即用、注册表、右键属性、长文件名等，基本奠定了今天的 Windows。
russellbeattie查看英文原文
It's hard to remember, but even though Windows 3.11 was extremely dominant at the time, it was by no means assured that Windows 95 would be the success that it was. The very first version missed wildly in some big ways (MSN was a folder integrated into the desktop, for example, and no TCP/IP support [*Edit: yes there was - I misremembered.]), but the core, underlying redesign of the GUI was so profoundly good it propelled Microsoft into a new level of ubiquity. Compare it to other GUIs at the time, like CDE, IBM's Presentation Manager, or even Mac OS 8 and there's no comparison. Windows 95 solidified Microsoft's dominance, but could just as easily eroded it had they dropped the ball. Even though I've used a Mac daily for the past decade or so, I still miss the task bar, and window-oriented GUI of Windows. I still get frustrated on OSX when I minimize a window and have to hunt around for it. I wouldn't switch back because of the underlying crap that is the Windows OS and file system, but I still miss the interface. Edit: Found this fantastic PDF "Chicago Reviewers Guide" which goes over all the new stuff in Win95. So much stuff I had forgotten - TrueType fonts, Plug and Play, registry settings, right-click properties, long file names... Basically everything that makes Windows what it is today. http://tech-insider.org/windows/research/acrobat/940601.pdf
从新手（他母亲）角度做可用性测试很有价值，并建议提供禁用拖放选项。
我妈妈 70 岁了，每当她被电脑上看似简单的任务卡住，我很容易烦躁，冲她喊“这么明显你怎么不知道”，事后又总后悔。冷静后我问她为什么，试着从她的角度理解，每次都会惊讶于她给出的合理理由，最后反而骂开发者 :D 所以我设计 App 的 UI/UX 时，会让我妈妈来测试。吐槽：Mac/Windows 应该提供禁用文件拖放的选项；每次检查她的电脑，总发现文件因误拖而位置错乱。
wiradikusuma查看英文原文
"not understanding how folders could exist inside of other folders" -- My mom is 70 years old now, and I easily get frustrated whenever she's stuck with seemingly simple tasks with her computer. I usually scold her and yell at her, "This is so obvious, how come you don't know?" -- I always regret doing that afterwards. After I'm calm, I ask her why, trying to understand it from her perspective. Every time I do this, I'm always surprised, because she gives valid points, and I end up cursing the developer :D So, whenever I design UI/UX for an app, I ask my mom to test. Rant: In my opinion, there should be an option in Mac/Windows to disable file drag and drop. Every time I check her computer, I always find dislocated files simply because she accidentally drag them.
许多为新用户做的设计后来被撤销，默认用户已会电脑，这对全球新用户未必成立。
让我着迷的是，当年认为对新用户有帮助的许多设计后来又被改了回去。看我的 Windows 10 桌面：他们努力让所有用户都能识别程序“正在运行”，现在又退回到只有细微指示区分快捷方式和运行中程序的图标。开始菜单如今被当成已知知识，任务栏最左边的图标是“特殊”的。现代等价物可能是在 Cortana 栏输入搜索，但体验并不好：搜“power off”让你设置电源计划，搜“shut down”把你引到添加或删除程序。感觉 2019 年电脑使用已被当作默认知识，微软不再为第一次买家用电脑的人做那么多设计；这在第一世界也许成立，但全球呢？
Timberwolf查看英文原文
I'm fascinated by how many of the things they identified as helpful to new users were later reverted. Looking at my Windows 10 desktop all of the work they did to find a solution where all users identified a program as "running" has been undone - it's back to icons with only a subtle indicator to distinguish between those that represent shortcuts and those that represent a running program. The Start Menu is now assumed knowledge that the furthest left icon on the taskbar is "special" and does something different to all the other shortcuts. I guess the modern equivalent of "Start" is "Type here to search" in the Cortana bar but that's not a great experience for new users. We all know the propensity for it to decide to search Bing at the slightest provocation but if you try some natural "never used a computer before" things like searching for "power off" or "shut down" you get some quite unhelpful results. (The former wants me to set up a power plan, the latter directs me to Add or Remove Programs) It feels like computer use is assumed knowledge in 2019 - that everyone who buys a computer already knows what the Windows logo represents, how minimising and overlapping works, what the difference between an app icon and a notification tray icon is, and so on. Microsoft no longer feel the need to design so much for people buying their first ever family computer, having never even used one before. Probably true in the first world, but I wonder if this holds out globally?
剪切文件不粘贴仍留原地的交互至今反直觉，暴露了实现细节。
我喜欢这一点：25 年前在 Windows 里发现的一个可用性问题今天仍然存在。你“剪切”一段文本，它从文档中消失，除非之后粘贴，否则永远没了。你“剪切”一个文件但从不粘贴，文件仍留在原位置，这与用户预期相反。这类问题是实现细节泄漏到 UI：剪贴板不是磁盘上的位置，不能把文件和目录移进去。
londons_explore查看英文原文
I love the fact that one of the usability issues identified 25 years ago in windows is still the case today. * If you "cut" a bit of text, it disappears from your document, and unless you later paste that text, it's gone forever. * If you "cut" a file, but never paste it, the file stays in its original location, contrary to the users expectations. This kind of thing is really the implementation details showing through into the UI (the clipboard is not a place on disk, and cannot have files and directories moved into it)
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