iChat: Boxes Transcript Style

Summary

One of the changes that the WebView chat transcript rewrite allowed was new transcript styles.

I worked on the graphic design for one of the new transcript styles with several other engineers on the team. One of the common complaints we heard was that the Balloons style was "too cartoony," and the Text style was "too boring." We worked to build something in between.

The result is an elegant style we called Boxes. It consists of an array of stacked boxes. It collapses consecutive messages from the person into the same box, which helps to save space. The rounded corners and bands of color provide a more eye pleasing design than the similar Text style.

Variants are also included to hide names or icons.

The new transcript style gives users the option of a new, modern-looking transcript style. It gives a new treatment to a familiar interface.