Gnome Human Interface Guidelines
For those of you who enjoy reading over human interface guidelines (HIG), I recently found a set published for the Gnome desktop environment. The HALO components used by Flex have their own implied guidelines, but nothing formally documented. For example, the default font is Verdana 10 point, horizontal gap space is 8 pixels, and application margins are 24 pixels. Of course Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and Java all have their own as well.
If you are in need of icons and other artwork, note that Gnome also has an artwork repository. I’ve seen an graphics repository for Java as well. I like public repositories like this as they help keep the UI consistent which ultimately improves usability and experience.
I’ve been petitioning the Experience Design Team (XD) here at Macromedia for formalization on both of these fronts; HIG and artwork. If you have thoughts about what content should be available, I’d be interested in hearing your comments. While I don’t want this to turn into a flame about how “I don’t like HALO”, if you have constructive feedback on the subtleties of HALO, I’d also like to hear general perception of the MM look and feel.