Gnome's Human Interface Guidelines: https://developer.gnome.org/hig/ https://developer.gnome.org/hig/ KDE's Human Interface Guidelines: https://develop.kde.org/

Gnome's Human Interface Guidelines: https://developer.gnome.org/hig/ https://developer.gnome.org/hig/ KDE's Human Interface Guidelines: https://develop.kde.org/hig/ https://develop.kde.org/hig/ Neither of these specifically document the design rationale behind system docks. However, both a centered dock and a left-aligned dock are attempts to apply Fitts' law to user interface design. Fitts' law is a foundational principle in modern interface design[0]. In 2002, an experimental study found that expanding docks (such as Apple's dock, in which icons grew bigger as they were focused on) presented many benefits without any theoretical drawbacks.[1] Here is a handy resource that helps visualize Fitts' law and its implications: https://timmarco.com/fitts/ https://timmarco.com/fitts/ [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts%27s_law [1]: "Fitts’ Law and Expanding Targets: An Experimental Study, and Applications to User Interface Design" https://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~mjmcguff/research/msc-thesis/msc-thesis.pdf https://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~mjmcguff/research/msc-thesis/ms...