Vitruvius applied to software design.

Inspiration can truly come from anywhere, but when it comes to software design it is clear that there is a connection between it and architecture, as Kapor noted:

Software design, Kapor argued, was not simply a matter of hanging attractive graphics atop the programmer's code. It was the fundamental creative act of imagining the user's needs and devising structures in software to fulfill those needs. As the architect draws up blueprints for the construction team, so the software designer should create the floor plans and elevation views from which software engineers would work. Reaching back to ancient Rome, Kapor proposed applying to software the architecture theorist Vitruvius' principles of good design: firmness —sound structure, no bugs; commodity —"A program should be suitable for the purposes for which it was intended"; delight —"The experience of using the program should be a pleasurable one".

(Rosenberg: p. 149)

The terms may sound outdated, but the idea truly still applies: a well designed software should be solid and consistent, able to meet the requirements and a joy to use. Apple's designers have always put this advice to good use.