Ameritech Graphical User Interface Standards and Design Guidelines

By Robert Schumacher, Ph.D., Managing Director

Original publication date of 1996.  Re-released due to an increase of requests for this document.

Preface

The purposes of the Ameritech Graphical Look and Feel Standards (aka design guide) are twofold. First, it provides a basis for a consistent user interface look and feel across Ameritech applications and platforms. Second, it is the initial attempt to integrate research on user interface design directly into the selection and usage of interface objects found in user interface libraries and toolkits.

It is also necessary to say what the design guide is not. I have attempted to stay away from duplicating, in any major way, things that can be found readily in existing style guides, except where there are differences from the existing standard. I do, however, refer to the style guides where necessary. In short, the design guide is meant to complement existing style guides by narrowing them to specific Ameritech purposes and giving the reader more guidance in selecting objects. Only at points of conflict, which are explicitly indicated in the text, do the Ameritech standards take precedence.

This standard is still evolving. Because the Windows user interface style guide was released shortly before completion of this document, it is possible that not all Windows standards are properly recorded. Windows standards were assumed through study of existing products and using the closely related IBM SAA CUA standard.

The design guide has seven sections:

• Section 1 - Introductory material on standards and guidelines
• Section 2 - User-centered design and architecture
• Section 3 - Ameritech standards
• Section 4 - Obtaining input from users
• Section 5 - Presenting output to users
• Section 6 - Portability issues from text to GUI and GUI to GUI
• Section 7 - Supporting materials (appendices, index, etc.).

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