Back to the Classics: The Menu Bar

I wrote this up for TQ Online, our email newsletter, but realized it was probably a little too nerdy for a mass audience. So here you are - read on if you're interested in principles of user-interface design, as they relate to the menu bar.

"In light of all the new whiz-bang features of Leopard, we're going to take you back to the classics this month, with a discussion of the humble menu bar.

These aren't screenshots of Vista or Leopard! On the left is Windows 3.1, and on the right is the classic Mac OS. Note that Windows attaches application-specific actions (File, Options, Window) to the top of the window, but in the Mac OS they stay in an menu bar along the top of the screen. I say po-TAY-to, you say po-TAH-to, right?

Wrong - the Mac version is better. Now, we're not just saying that because we're Mac zealots... we've got science on our side! There's a principle in user interface (UI) design called Fitt's Law, which states roughly that the larger the target, the easier it is to point at.

Look at Windows again - to click "File," you must maneuver the mouse into a relatively small area. "File" is easier to point at on the Mac, because it's at the top of the screen. Here's where it gets nerdy: the Mac's "File" menu presents the same size target horizontally, but it presents an infinitely large target vertically, because your mouse is stopped at the edge of the screen. You can't move past it, so you can carelessly throw the mouse pointer to the top of the screen, then move it horizontally to the button. With Windows, you must carefully position the pointer both horizontally and vertically.

Corners of the screen are even easier to hit - just move the mouse diagonally and you'll inevitably end up in a corner. You'll find useful things in the corners, like Leopard's "Spotlight" search feature or the commonly-used Apple menu. You can even define different actions for these "Hot Corners" using System Preferences, such as activating the Screen Saver or tiling your windows with Exposé.

We love Macs because they're easy to use, and they always have been. It's worth remembering that things we take for granted in Leopard, like the menu bar, were innovations in the early 1980's that still serve us well today."

Extra credit:

Fitts' Law on Wikipedia
Ask Tog: website of Bruce Tognazzini, Apple's former "Human Interface Evangelist"
A discussion of Fitts' Law on osnews.com