Comments on: User Interface Improvements: Positions

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:07:37 +0000

Hi,
Thanks for the clarity and I have been doing these for year and it is great to confirm they are correct.
I would love to know if there are GUI patterns.
For example these days applications really can look old or modern. What goes into making things modern?
I feel it is the layout.. Some examples I would like to know are..
Modern starting screen – eg Outlook explorer bar on the left OR a nice background with menu buttons across the bottom.
Then some layouts for the list view of data. Position of edit, delete, sort buttons.
Then for the details screens – tips for balancing the headers, large heading maybe with an image right aligned? modern tabsheets to group data entry.
Obviously there are also other considerations – like if data entry speed is a priority over aesthetics etc..
Thanks for the post !!
Michael

By: Mike Wilson

Mike Wilson — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:09:26 +0000

Excellent advice, Dennis. I agree with it

One point on dependancy, you should really put a frame or groupbox around the controls which are dependant on the control which sets them – for example, the “Login Required” should be a checkbox/groupbox which enabled or disables the contents.

Hope you’re well, look forward to your next post!

Mike (Mike on Software)

By: Ramón

Ramón — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:17:25 +0000

Hi Dennis,

Good advice, I even agree with most of it.
Under “Hierarchy” you refer to “dependable control” – I think that should be “dependent” (I like to hope that ALL my controls are dependable).

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:41:25 +0000

Good stuff here. I just wish you didn’t set your text size so small on this blog.

By: Dennis Crane

Dennis Crane — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:13:21 +0000

JJ: Thanks for the book prompt. I will check it.
Jayhilwig: Great study. I read it before.
Keith & Nara: Thanks.

By: Nara

Nara — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:15:00 +0000

I like your visual way of presenting material. Great article, thanks for taking the time, and keep ‘em coming

By: keith lovgren

keith lovgren — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:46:34 +0000

This was a great post. Thanks for putting it together. I love the conciseness. I’m looking forward to the rest.

P.S.

Its very difficult to make out the characters in the verification box. Case sensitive? Capital O or zeros? 3x to fill it out.

By: jayhilwig

jayhilwig — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:23:46 +0000

Objective study regarding placing text labels above input field and right-aligned to input field at:
http://www.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000107.php

When text label on the same row as input field, it is good practice to keep localization (string length) in mind.

cheers, great post!

By: JJ

JJ — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:54:18 +0000

Excellent – there is a great acronym here SAD/DAS.
For further ideas on general design/layout may I suggest the following book?

The Non Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams, Peachpit Press.

She uses the acronym C R A P, which my students love!
Contrast
Alignment
Repetition
Proximity

Keep up the good work!

By: Sarven Capadisli

Sarven Capadisli — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:01:29 +0000

Similar guidelines apply to both software and hypertext systems.

Compensate for warning and error messages.

Style focused elements.