I've long been a fan of Lotus Notes for its user-friendly, functional UI design. One important concept in designing a great UI is to keep it as simple as possible. Here's an example from the latest version of Notes for the Mac:
Click it to make it big so you can fully appreciate the design aesthetic.
I appreciate the gigantic-ness of the dialog box itself, obscuring almost all of my desktop and encouraging me to focus on my meeting response. The tiny-by-comparison text area keeps the text relatively narrow and easier to read. The Text Properties button follows along as you type, ensuring that your ability to change text properties is literally at your fingertips. Of course, the ability WOULD be there—if the button actually did anything when you clicked it.
I love lotus too! I can't tell you how wonderful the experience of sending that note was. I feel kinda like a celebrity, being on your blog ;) Are Charlie and Molly going to be able to come play on Sunday?
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