Yikes...It Looks Like That?! UI Worst Practices BP21404/16/2008 09:41:31 PMLocation : Cleveland, OH
Presented by Chris Blatnick and Bruce Elgort this was a "holistic approach" to UI Design That Went Wrong. What would you expect to see?
(blog intermission) I am sure that you are wondering why a known Admin would be sitting in a seemingly Developer-centric session. Good question. I, like many Admins, have to do some development. Either to make my job easier or to make it more interesting. Plus, I like to think that a few Developer sessions help me to be a more "balanced" Notes/Domino person. Or, "unbalanced" as some would tell you. (end intermission)
Chris and Bruce took you through a few ugly examples, the kinds that make you cringe. Example: Forcing a user to enter a Social Security number. One. Number. At. A.Time. Using a drop downs to select each number.
But it wasn't all bad. After each example, they showed you a much better solution. With a tip. Example: Avoid breaking established conventions. If you use a checkbox, then tell your users to select only one option. This is called a "radio button," people. Another example: Reusing code. We all do it. But do you confirm that the results are what you expect? Is it confusing to the user? You may have a dialog box that provides the user with the choices "Back," "Next," and "Finish." Are those choices acceptable to the current use?
Colors. See the graphic, above. As Chris and Bruce said, "An explosion at the Skittles factory." You can fix your issues with color by relearning (or learning) the color pallette. Google can help with sites that give you acceptable, complimentary colors.
When they moved into alternatives to the "twistie," the topic of CSS came up. Or, as I had in my notes, Chris explained this as, "Castigating Style Sheets." Castigating is defined as:
To inflict severe punishment on. See Synonyms at punish.
To criticize severely.
Sorry, Chris, that was just too good to pass up. :-)
Other items in their presentation:
1) Showing items that the user has no right to use. Like Administrative views or and Edit button when the user has no right to edit the document.
2) Next/Previous buttons when you are at the bottom/top of a data set.
3) Create print friendly versions of your forms/pages
4) Proper use of tabs (6-8 are acceptable)
5) Think about your Help functions. Make them appropriate/useful or don't use a Help function.
6) Composite applications. The chance for providing too much information is great. How do you fix it? They weren't sure, as it is too early to tell, but they did say that we control "Best Practices" in this area.
7) If the users ask to be able to export data, make it easy for them. Include a button or form that makes this a simple operation.
8) Look at the new "Web 2.0" applications. Clean, simple, easy. Apply those thoughts to your applications.
9) A book recommendation: Software for Use by Larry L. Constantine and Lucy A.D. Lockwood.
Our Presenters:
An excellent, informative, and fun session. Chris and Bruce not only showed you what NOT to do, but how you can fix it. There was a lot of practical advice.
Technorati tag: lotusphere2008
(blog intermission) I am sure that you are wondering why a known Admin would be sitting in a seemingly Developer-centric session. Good question. I, like many Admins, have to do some development. Either to make my job easier or to make it more interesting. Plus, I like to think that a few Developer sessions help me to be a more "balanced" Notes/Domino person. Or, "unbalanced" as some would tell you. (end intermission)
Chris and Bruce took you through a few ugly examples, the kinds that make you cringe. Example: Forcing a user to enter a Social Security number. One. Number. At. A.Time. Using a drop downs to select each number.
But it wasn't all bad. After each example, they showed you a much better solution. With a tip. Example: Avoid breaking established conventions. If you use a checkbox, then tell your users to select only one option. This is called a "radio button," people. Another example: Reusing code. We all do it. But do you confirm that the results are what you expect? Is it confusing to the user? You may have a dialog box that provides the user with the choices "Back," "Next," and "Finish." Are those choices acceptable to the current use?
Colors. See the graphic, above. As Chris and Bruce said, "An explosion at the Skittles factory." You can fix your issues with color by relearning (or learning) the color pallette. Google can help with sites that give you acceptable, complimentary colors.
When they moved into alternatives to the "twistie," the topic of CSS came up. Or, as I had in my notes, Chris explained this as, "Castigating Style Sheets." Castigating is defined as:
To inflict severe punishment on. See Synonyms at punish.
To criticize severely.
Sorry, Chris, that was just too good to pass up. :-)
Other items in their presentation:
1) Showing items that the user has no right to use. Like Administrative views or and Edit button when the user has no right to edit the document.
2) Next/Previous buttons when you are at the bottom/top of a data set.
3) Create print friendly versions of your forms/pages
4) Proper use of tabs (6-8 are acceptable)
5) Think about your Help functions. Make them appropriate/useful or don't use a Help function.
6) Composite applications. The chance for providing too much information is great. How do you fix it? They weren't sure, as it is too early to tell, but they did say that we control "Best Practices" in this area.
7) If the users ask to be able to export data, make it easy for them. Include a button or form that makes this a simple operation.
8) Look at the new "Web 2.0" applications. Clean, simple, easy. Apply those thoughts to your applications.
9) A book recommendation: Software for Use by Larry L. Constantine and Lucy A.D. Lockwood.
Our Presenters:
An excellent, informative, and fun session. Chris and Bruce not only showed you what NOT to do, but how you can fix it. There was a lot of practical advice.
Technorati tag: lotusphere2008
Comments
Comment posted by Charles Robinson04/17/2008 10:20:55 AM
Did Chris or Bruce give out their own social security number like Nathan did at Lotusphere? 
Comment posted by Gregg Eldred04/17/2008 03:42:05 PM
Homepage: http://www.ns-tech.com/blog/geldred.nsf
@Charles: Only if it is "000-00-0000." 
Comment posted by Bruce Elgort04/17/2008 11:00:18 PM
Homepage: http://www.bruceelgort.com
@Charles I have to ask - do we have yellow hair like Nathan....ummmmm no.
@Gregg thanks for the write up on the session. Glad you enjoyed.
Powered By : Domino
BlogSphere V1.3.1
Join The WebLog Revolution at BlogSphere.net
- 