A critical analysis of scroll bars throughout history
Sébastien Matos has built a fantastic interactive trip through the history of one of the most important UI elements we encounter every day: the scroll bar. He’s recreated, as faithfully as possible, 30 years of scroll bars from some of the top desktop platforms of their day, from Xerox Star to Windows 10.
Take a minute out of your busy day to enjoy the zen of playing with old UI design. Then come back here and read The Verge’s very serious review of scroll bars through history.
Xerox Star: 2/10
Unclear design. Arrows counterintuitively move the scroll bar’s position in the opposite direction.
Lisa OS: 6/10
Clear design, but a bit wide. When dragging, the ghost of the scroll position gives you great interactive feedback.
The Verge is an ambitious multimedia effort founded in 2011