A common complaint about Java desktop applications is that they do not have a look and feel that is consistent with the operating system. Is this really a problem? Does anyone really care about UI consistency? Microsoft doesn’t, at least not in the same way as the complainers, and in this case I agree with them. Microsoft recently announced the next version of their Office suite: Office 12. The new version of Office differs substantially from the normal Windows look and feel conventions in order to make the application easier to use. Screenshots of the new user interface can be seen here. I am not sure that the new interface will be effective, or is even necessary, but it does emphasize the fact that even Microsoft does not always follow the Windows UI conventions. Of course, this is nothing new, the last several versions of Microsoft Office and Visual Studio have sported a different look than the versions of Windows that they ran on.

I think that the argument about UI inconsistency is really a red herring. The real problem isn’t that a user interface may be inconsistent with Windows, it is that the interface is difficult to use. When applications are easy to use nobody complains about the interface being inconsistent. There are a few basic rules that all applications are expected to follow, but beyond that users just want something that does not require a lot of time to figure out. Sometimes consistency is part of overall usability; however, just being consistent with Windows (or Mac OS) does not guarantee that an application will be easy to use. Emerson once remarked that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Development teams are better served spending their time making the interface clear and easy to use than making it consistent with Windows.

Tags: design, java, microsoft, swing, ui, usability