Google+ Was Designed By Original Mac OS Architect

Andy Herzfeld, a primary software architect of the Macintosh Operating System, is the designer behind Google+, reveals Wired's inside look at the new social network.

With colorful animations, drag-and-drop magic and whimsical interface touches, Circles looks more like a classic Apple program than the typically bland Google app. That's no surprise since the key interface designer was legendary software artist Andy Herzfeld.

The former Macintosh wizard now works at Google — though he loves the company, he had previously felt constrained because its design standards didn't allow for individual creativity. But with Emerald Sea, he had a go-ahead to flex his creative muscles. "It wasn't a given that anyone would like what I was doing, but they did," he says.


After a shakeup in the Apple II team and at Hertzfeld's request, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs added him to the newly formed Macintosh team in February, 1981. Working for Bud Tribble alongside Bill Atkinson and Burrell Smith, Hertzfeld became a primary software architect of the Macintosh Operating System, which was considered revolutionary in its use of the graphical user interface (GUI) where Jef Raskin also made contributions. [W]

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