>>A comparative article by a dude like you would be well received and
appreciated.

Hmmm... First of all I don't claim to be an expert in this, I have no formal graphics design training, but I deal with graphics designers and marketing people on a daily basis. So I've managed to pick some stuff up over the years. And, both of these areas have things that are applicable to this topic.

That said, I'm willing to give it a shot. I'm going to think out load here for a minute, but when I'm done maybe we can roll it into an article.

General concept wise from the two threads we have...

-Following window standards for menus, toolbars etc. (Familiarity)
-Avoid modal dialogs when not needed.
-Appropriate use of white space.

I'm sure their are more concepts in those threads, but I'm just waking up and those are the ones I remember. (Feel free to remind me which ones I've missed.)

Now from marketing I would add the concept of "Targeted Public". i.e. Who is going to use this app. This really needs to be the first consideration when designing the interface.

For instance... I wouldn't consider this interface for a corporate application:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/desktop/halflife2.mspx

But I really love that one. This is an important concept, and I'll try and expound on it a bit more later. I have some ideas, tricks and tips that I use for this.

From graphics design, here are some concepts come to mind. They are related.

Consistency. The application should have a consistent look and feel across it's interface.

Use of fonts and colors, Keep It Simple, using too many fonts or font sizes or colors will only make your interface look garbagy. The less skilled you are at graphics design the less you should use different fonts and colors. Pick one or two and stick with them.

Well... That's all I have for the moment, I'll save this and see if I can't clean it up/expand on it a bit. Comments/Ideas from one and all are appreciated and I may incorporate them into what I write.