The Boss wants a modern, sexy website for systems integration.
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Marc Clifton wrote:
parts of the UI were dynamically generated from an XSD so the app could be customized without touching the code base
As an alternative viewpoint, I would not see that as "not touching the code base". I would see that as "we are now coding using XSD as an interpreted language".
Graham Bradshaw wrote:
As an alternative viewpoint, I would not see that as "not touching the code base". I would see that as "we are now coding using XSD as an interpreted language".
Good point. :) Marc
Available for consulting and full time employment. Contact me. Interacx
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OK, so sexy controls. But in what layout? I prefer a minimalist approach - white backgrounds and high quality graphics. Any thoughts on good UI designs?
I don't speak Idiot - please talk slowly and clearly I don't know what all the fuss is about with America getting it's first black president. Zimbabwe's had one for years and he's sh*t. - Percy Drake , Shrewsbury
Avoid what you see in Vista/*nix UIs where they have a dozen different gradients, all going different directions. Keep it simple. If you want to use a gradient, then decide on a minimal range of colors (maybe 2 or 3) and stick with it. I personally think Apple does a nice job of making things simple (for most of their software), and keeping the layout minimal. If you need to have a complex layout, maybe consider using a "More Details" disclosure button that transitions the UI from simple default options to something more complex for the Power Users. Another thought: in painting/graphic design you learn to control where the viewers eye goes, to arrange your image elements in such a way that the viewer's eye follows a specific path. UIs have the same issue, but I suspect this is not something people pay much attention to.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog Just Say No to Web 2 Point Oh
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I had the following experience recently. We were developing a prototype app in .NET, and specifically chose at the time to use just .NET controls. The CEO looked at the UI and critized the development because the UI didn't look sexy enough. We pointed out numerous times that the .NET controls aren't very sexy, but we could easily replace them with some third party controls, but the point of the prototype wasn't whether the UI was sexy or not, it was what the prototype proved under the covers, a declarative "language" for creating the UI, parts of the UI were dynamically generated from an XSD so the app could be customized without touching the code base, the dynamic part generated XML which was stored in the DB, which again meant we could customize fields in the UI without touching the code, it was a 3-tier architecture, it worked with the legacy DB, which meant it worked with the other legacy apps, etc. No love. The UI wasn't sexy, the controls were ugly, so you didn't meet my requirements. Nowhere in the requirements did it state we had to use sexy controls. :sigh: Marc
Available for consulting and full time employment. Contact me. Interacx
Marc Clifton wrote:
Nowhere in the requirements did it state we had to use sexy controls.
Sex sells! :~
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes -
Marc Clifton wrote:
Nowhere in the requirements did it state we had to use sexy controls.
Sex sells! :~
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopesJimmyRopes wrote:
Sex sells!
Quite so. Much more so than content. :-\ Marc
Available for consulting and full time employment. Contact me. Interacx
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While I'm aware that sexy and systems integration shouldn't appear in the same sentence :-D , what are the top 5 things you like to see on a technical site? And yes, I know it is easier to list what you don't like... Links please :rose:
I don't speak Idiot - please talk slowly and clearly I don't know what all the fuss is about with America getting it's first black president. Zimbabwe's had one for years and he's sh*t. - Percy Drake , Shrewsbury
"Sexy" is only a benefit if you're selling pr0n. Things that make me want to explore a site include: 1. Simple design - easy on my old eyes. Save the flash for video games, and give me pastel backgrounds, and sharp, clear foreground colors. Use the minimum number of panels for content - header, menu, main, footer - more than that tend to look cluttered, and give an impression of being disorganized. 2. Skip the huge image files, but do include a few images in a size appropriate for the medium. My connection is sometimes dodgy, and though the browser will take care of resizing your life-size image on Mt. Rushmore, it will take two weeks to load, and I'm not waiting. Stick to 100 dpi images. 3. Do use ALT text behind menu links, or if you want sexy, use dynamic effects to expand them on rollovers. I like to have a clear idea of what's hiding behind door #2 before I click it. 4. Always give me a way back home. I'm surprised at how many websites lead me off to the end of a trail of links, but neglect to give me a simple one-click return to home. It's so easy to do, I can't imagine what they're thinking. But it annoys me to find myself at the end of a trail and forced to use the Back button repeatedly to return to the main page. 5. Do not use popups of any kind! Ever! If I have to click anything to make it go away in order to view your content, I won't be back. Good luck! :-D
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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"Sexy" is only a benefit if you're selling pr0n. Things that make me want to explore a site include: 1. Simple design - easy on my old eyes. Save the flash for video games, and give me pastel backgrounds, and sharp, clear foreground colors. Use the minimum number of panels for content - header, menu, main, footer - more than that tend to look cluttered, and give an impression of being disorganized. 2. Skip the huge image files, but do include a few images in a size appropriate for the medium. My connection is sometimes dodgy, and though the browser will take care of resizing your life-size image on Mt. Rushmore, it will take two weeks to load, and I'm not waiting. Stick to 100 dpi images. 3. Do use ALT text behind menu links, or if you want sexy, use dynamic effects to expand them on rollovers. I like to have a clear idea of what's hiding behind door #2 before I click it. 4. Always give me a way back home. I'm surprised at how many websites lead me off to the end of a trail of links, but neglect to give me a simple one-click return to home. It's so easy to do, I can't imagine what they're thinking. But it annoys me to find myself at the end of a trail and forced to use the Back button repeatedly to return to the main page. 5. Do not use popups of any kind! Ever! If I have to click anything to make it go away in order to view your content, I won't be back. Good luck! :-D
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
thanks Roger. Good suggestions from both you and Jim. :thumbsup:
I don't speak Idiot - please talk slowly and clearly I don't know what all the fuss is about with America getting it's first black president. Zimbabwe's had one for years and he's sh*t. - Percy Drake , Shrewsbury
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While I'm aware that sexy and systems integration shouldn't appear in the same sentence :-D , what are the top 5 things you like to see on a technical site? And yes, I know it is easier to list what you don't like... Links please :rose:
I don't speak Idiot - please talk slowly and clearly I don't know what all the fuss is about with America getting it's first black president. Zimbabwe's had one for years and he's sh*t. - Percy Drake , Shrewsbury
What kind of information will you be displaying on a "systems integration" site?
Todd Smith
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What kind of information will you be displaying on a "systems integration" site?
Todd Smith
Andy:
Todd Smith wrote:
What kind of information will you be displaying on a "systems integration" site?
Marketing: You know. Systems stuff. But integrated. And, erm, sexy.... When can you have it done?
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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Andy:
Todd Smith wrote:
What kind of information will you be displaying on a "systems integration" site?
Marketing: You know. Systems stuff. But integrated. And, erm, sexy.... When can you have it done?
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Roger Wright wrote:
Marketing: You know. Systems stuff. But integrated. And, erm, sexy.... When can you have it done?
So like a sports illustrated swim suit model holding a cisco 3800 in one hand and an intel SSD in another. But where would you place the blinking status lights in this case?
Todd Smith
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Roger Wright wrote:
Marketing: You know. Systems stuff. But integrated. And, erm, sexy.... When can you have it done?
So like a sports illustrated swim suit model holding a cisco 3800 in one hand and an intel SSD in another. But where would you place the blinking status lights in this case?
Todd Smith
That would depend on what you're selling. The blinking lights go where you want to viewers' eyes to go. If you're selling networking equipment, the model will bring the geeks, but the flashing lights on the devices will make them buy. On the other hand, if you're selling swimwear, the network boxes will also attract the geeks, but you'll want to place the blinking lights elsewhere.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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While I'm aware that sexy and systems integration shouldn't appear in the same sentence :-D , what are the top 5 things you like to see on a technical site? And yes, I know it is easier to list what you don't like... Links please :rose:
I don't speak Idiot - please talk slowly and clearly I don't know what all the fuss is about with America getting it's first black president. Zimbabwe's had one for years and he's sh*t. - Percy Drake , Shrewsbury
A good example to look at will be the Oracle 10g Express Edition. Once you download and install it it has a web based interface to manage several things including loading data from external sources.
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While I'm aware that sexy and systems integration shouldn't appear in the same sentence :-D , what are the top 5 things you like to see on a technical site? And yes, I know it is easier to list what you don't like... Links please :rose:
I don't speak Idiot - please talk slowly and clearly I don't know what all the fuss is about with America getting it's first black president. Zimbabwe's had one for years and he's sh*t. - Percy Drake , Shrewsbury
A five minute streaming hi-def video that plays every time before you can view the home page. Be sure there is no way to skip past it or use the back button to get out of the site. That way people on dial-up or other crappy connections will love the site and will always come back for more. And people with decent connections will eventually get to know the video word for word.
You may be right I may be crazy -- Billy Joel -- Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
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A five minute streaming hi-def video that plays every time before you can view the home page. Be sure there is no way to skip past it or use the back button to get out of the site. That way people on dial-up or other crappy connections will love the site and will always come back for more. And people with decent connections will eventually get to know the video word for word.
You may be right I may be crazy -- Billy Joel -- Within you lies the power for good - Use it!
:laugh:
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
-
"Sexy" is only a benefit if you're selling pr0n. Things that make me want to explore a site include: 1. Simple design - easy on my old eyes. Save the flash for video games, and give me pastel backgrounds, and sharp, clear foreground colors. Use the minimum number of panels for content - header, menu, main, footer - more than that tend to look cluttered, and give an impression of being disorganized. 2. Skip the huge image files, but do include a few images in a size appropriate for the medium. My connection is sometimes dodgy, and though the browser will take care of resizing your life-size image on Mt. Rushmore, it will take two weeks to load, and I'm not waiting. Stick to 100 dpi images. 3. Do use ALT text behind menu links, or if you want sexy, use dynamic effects to expand them on rollovers. I like to have a clear idea of what's hiding behind door #2 before I click it. 4. Always give me a way back home. I'm surprised at how many websites lead me off to the end of a trail of links, but neglect to give me a simple one-click return to home. It's so easy to do, I can't imagine what they're thinking. But it annoys me to find myself at the end of a trail and forced to use the Back button repeatedly to return to the main page. 5. Do not use popups of any kind! Ever! If I have to click anything to make it go away in order to view your content, I won't be back. Good luck! :-D
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5Software Zen:
delete this;
Fold With Us![^] -
I had the following experience recently. We were developing a prototype app in .NET, and specifically chose at the time to use just .NET controls. The CEO looked at the UI and critized the development because the UI didn't look sexy enough. We pointed out numerous times that the .NET controls aren't very sexy, but we could easily replace them with some third party controls, but the point of the prototype wasn't whether the UI was sexy or not, it was what the prototype proved under the covers, a declarative "language" for creating the UI, parts of the UI were dynamically generated from an XSD so the app could be customized without touching the code base, the dynamic part generated XML which was stored in the DB, which again meant we could customize fields in the UI without touching the code, it was a 3-tier architecture, it worked with the legacy DB, which meant it worked with the other legacy apps, etc. No love. The UI wasn't sexy, the controls were ugly, so you didn't meet my requirements. Nowhere in the requirements did it state we had to use sexy controls. :sigh: Marc
Available for consulting and full time employment. Contact me. Interacx
Marc Clifton wrote:
we had to use sexy controls
"You'll want to lick them."
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Marc Clifton wrote:
we had to use sexy controls
"You'll want to lick them."
PIEBALDconsult wrote:
"You'll want to lick them."
That expression was actually used, believe it or not. Marc
Available for consulting and full time employment. Contact me. Interacx
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While I'm aware that sexy and systems integration shouldn't appear in the same sentence :-D , what are the top 5 things you like to see on a technical site? And yes, I know it is easier to list what you don't like... Links please :rose:
I don't speak Idiot - please talk slowly and clearly I don't know what all the fuss is about with America getting it's first black president. Zimbabwe's had one for years and he's sh*t. - Percy Drake , Shrewsbury
Andy_L_J wrote:
what are the top 5 things you like to see on a technical site
Summer Glau doing that robot head tilt.