How long do you spend?
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Designing your initial interface [once you know everything you need at that point]? Hours, Days, Weeks (, Months?!?!)? I spent the entire day attempting to get this user interface to look right for a project I took over and it is nerve racking! I sometimes have to make textboxes a bit long or group boxes a bit big to make things look even. Bah! ---- xian "Winners never quit and quitters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots." -despair
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Designing your initial interface [once you know everything you need at that point]? Hours, Days, Weeks (, Months?!?!)? I spent the entire day attempting to get this user interface to look right for a project I took over and it is nerve racking! I sometimes have to make textboxes a bit long or group boxes a bit big to make things look even. Bah! ---- xian "Winners never quit and quitters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots." -despair
Depending on the application's features, I sometimes spend a lot of time designing the interface. I start designing the interface on paper :omg: and then prototype it using Visual Basic. Using a prototype allows my users to see and work with the interface, even though the application isn't really there. If it is a Web-based app, I prototype it using DHTML and a bunch of JScript code to simulate the application. This way, users can download a copy onto their system and work with it whenever they like, without having to interact with a Web server. :cool: If I'm dealing with really technically challenged users, I prototype and borrow a user interface design expert to make suggestions and idiot proof the application's interface as much as possible. Essam - Author, JScript .NET Programming
...and a bunch of articles around the Web -
Designing your initial interface [once you know everything you need at that point]? Hours, Days, Weeks (, Months?!?!)? I spent the entire day attempting to get this user interface to look right for a project I took over and it is nerve racking! I sometimes have to make textboxes a bit long or group boxes a bit big to make things look even. Bah! ---- xian "Winners never quit and quitters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots." -despair
For me it's an iterative process. I design an interface and show it to my boss or clients. They tell me it sucks and ask for the moon and stars. I bargan them down to only the moon and redesign the interface. After a few rounds of this we generally come up with something that's not half bad. Getting the interface and business flow correct takes lots of time and effort for all parties. It also takes input from everyone involved in the project.