Human interface guidelines

Human interface guidelines often describe the visual design rules, including icon and window design and style. Much less frequently, they specify how user input and interaction mechanisms work. Aside from the detailed rules, guidelines sometimes also make broader suggestions about how to organize and design the application and write user-interface text. HIGs are also done for applications. In this case the HIG will build on a platform HIG by adding the common semantics for a range of application functions. == Cross-platform guidelines ==

In contrast to platform-specific guidelines, cross-platform guidelines aren't tied to a distinct platform. These guidelines make recommendations which should be true on any platform. Since this isn't always possible, cross-platform guidelines may weigh the compliance against the imposed work load. ==Examples==

===Linux, macOS, Unix-like=== • Elementary OS Human Interface Guidelines (Old link ) • GNOME Human Interface Guidelines • KDE Human Interface Guidelines • Apple Human Interface Guidelines • OLPC Human Interface Guidelines • Ubuntu App Design Guides • Xfce UI Guidelines • Motif and CDE 2.1 Style Guide See also PDF • (Classic) Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines (Higher quality from developer.apple.com via Wayback Machine, Archived 2003-04-08) • Mac OS 8 Human Interface Guidelines (addendum) (via Wayback Machine, Archived 2003-03-15) ===Programming languages=== • Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines, and Advanced Topics (2001 - Can't be accessed anymore, but can archived in Wayback Machine) ===Portable devices=== • Android Design • Designing for Apple watchOS • Apple iOS Human Interface Guidelines • Apple iPadOS Human Interface Guidelines ===Microsoft Windows=== • The Windows Interface: An Application Design Guide (1992) (Windows 3.1) • The Windows Interface Guidelines For Software Design (1995) (Windows 95 and NT 4) • Microsoft Windows User Experience (1999) (Windows 98, ME, and 2000) • Windows XP Design Guidelines (HTML in self-extracting Zip file, Archived 2005-09-23) • Windows User Experience Interaction Guidelines (for Windows 7 and Windows Vista) (Archived 2011-12-03, See also PDF) • Microsoft Fluent Design System (for Windows 10/11-based devices) • Design library for Windows Phone Miscellaneous • Common User Access (IBM platforms including OS/2. Also Windows prior to 3.x versions) • Eclipse UI Guidelines • wyoGuide, a cross-platform HIG (wxWidgets) • ELMER (guidelines for public forms on the internet) • Haiku Human Interface Guidelines • HarmonyOS Design Guidelines • OpenHarmony Universal Design Guidelines == See also ==