Windows 95 shipped in August 1995 and, for a lot of people, it was the first graphical interface they ever really used. Looking back at it today, there is a surprising amount to admire.
Everything looks like what it does
Buttons look raised. Text fields look sunken. Disabled things look etched into the surface. You never had to guess whether something was clickable, because the interface told you through consistent, physical metaphors.
Constraints breed consistency
With a 640x480 screen and 256 colours, designers could not rely on shadows, gradients or animations to communicate. Instead they leaned on:
- A tiny, disciplined colour palette
- A single system font at a single size
- A handful of reusable controls
That discipline is exactly what modern design systems try to recreate.
What I took from it
When I build interfaces now, I ask myself the Windows 95 question: could a first-time user tell what this does without hovering over it? If the answer is no, I probably have more work to do.
C:\> echo Keep it simple.
Keep it simple.