>Menus let you cross over empty space and other menu items, instead of strictly enforcing hover rectangles.
I know the guy, Frank Leahy, who implemented that feature invented by Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini.
When he was at Apple, he rewrote the Menu Manager for Mac SE and Mac II.
We were working together on a project at Current TV, and reminiscing about how great the original Apple Human Interface guidelines were, and how Apple had totally lost their original devotion to excellent user interface design, and I mentioned how the original edition of the Apple HIG book I had actually illustrated, documented, and justified that subtle feature.
Frank proudly told me he was the one who implemented it for the Menu Manager, and that he was touched that somebody actually noticed and appreciated it as much as I did.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17404401
https://bjk5.com/post/44698559168/breaking-down-amazons-mega...
>Breaking down Amazon’s mega dropdown [...]
>DonHopkins on June 26, 2018 [–]
>The comments are actually great -- even Tog weighs in! It also mentions Frank Lehey, who rewrote the Menu Manager for Mac SE and Mac II.
>Jake Smith • 5 years ago This was first implemented by Apple's HID team back in the 80s, specifically Bruce Tognazzini, I believe.
>Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini Jake Smith • 5 years ago Yes, I did invent it back in 1986 and it is firmly in the public domain. From what I remember, it was Jim Batson who worked out the math and coded it for the Mac OS. The OS X team later failed to copy the algorithm, so I am happy to see that amazon has resurrected it.
>Josh Davenport Jake Smith • 5 years ago I think it was yes. It looks like it was originally implemented by NeXT and then removed by Apple when they bought NeXT. Tog himself talks about what happened here: https://www.asktog.com/columns/022DesignedToGiveFitts.html in the answer to question 6 - "When I specified the Mac hierarchical menu algorthm in the mid-'80s, I called for a buffer zone shaped like a <, so that users could make an increasingly-greater error as they neared the hierarchical without fear of jumping to an unwanted menu...........Sadly, the NeXT folks, when coming to Apple, copied Windows, rather than the Mac"
>markr_7 • 5 years ago Can't comment on the HID team, Bruce, or possibly the many times it was even implemented at Apple, but as a young developer at Apple in the 80s, I remember stopping by Frank Leahy's office as he was tweaking his code to get menus to "work right." I've often recalled the experience because of the time he was spending to get it right, and how the behavior wasn't simple once you started really trying to meet a users expectations. If I remember right it wasn't just the direction, but also time and therefore velocity. For example, you wouldn't want to stick with the wrong menu if the user wasn't really moving with purpose in the direction of the sub-menu.