| Look And Feel |
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| usability | |
| user interface | |
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In Software Design , look and feel is used in respect of a Graphical User Interface and comprises aspects of its design, including elements such as colors, shapes, layout, and Typeface s (the "look"), as well as the behavior of dynamic elements such as buttons, boxes, and menus (the "feel"). The term look and feel is used in reference to both Software and Website s. Look and feel applies to other products. In documentation, for example, it refers to the graphical layout (document size, color, font, etc.) and the writing style. In the context of equipment, it refers to consistency in controls and displays across a product line. IN OPERATING SYSTEMS Look and feel in Operating System User Interface s serves two general purposes. First, it provides Brand ing, helping to identify a set of products from one company. Second, it increases ease of use, since users will become familiar with how one product functions (looks, reads, etc.) and can translate their experience to other products with the same look and feel. Some companies try to assert Copyright over their look and feel. Apple Computer was notable for its use of the term look and feel in reference to their Mac OS Operating System . The firm tried, with some success, to block other software developers from creating software which had a similar look and feel. Apple argued that they had a Copyright claim on the look and feel of their software, and even went so far as to sue Microsoft , alleging that the Windows Operating System was illegally copying their look and feel. Despite provoking a vehement reaction in the ''. The First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a copyright claim on the feel of a user interface in '' Lotus V. Borland ''. IN WIDGET TOOLKITS Contrary to Operating System User Interface s, for which look and feel is a part of the product identification, Widget Toolkit s often allow users to specialize their Application look and feel, by deriving the default look and feel of the toolkit, or by completely defining their own. This specialization can go from Skinning (which only deals with the look, or visual appearance of the Widgets ) to completely specializing the way the user interacts with the software (that is, the feel). The definition of the look and feel to associate with the Application is often done at initialization, but some Widget Toolkit s, such as the Swing widget toolkit that is part of the Java API , allow to users to change the look and feel at runtime (see Pluggable Look And Feel ). Some examples of Widget Toolkit s that support setting a specialized look and feel are:
IN LITERATURE In the novel Microserfs by Douglas Coupland , one of the characters owns two Hamsters , named "Look" and "Feel". EXTERNAL LINKS |
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