Comments on: UIEtips Article: Tips for Designing Powerful RIAs: An Interview with David Malouf and Bill Scott http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2006/12/06/uietips-article-tips-for-designing-powerful-rias-an-interview-with-david-malouf-and-bill-scott/ UIE\'s latest insights on the world of design Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:47:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Brett Merkey http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2006/12/06/uietips-article-tips-for-designing-powerful-rias-an-interview-with-david-malouf-and-bill-scott/#comment-38709 Brett Merkey Thu, 07 Dec 2006 19:42:35 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2006/12/06/uietips-article-tips-for-designing-powerful-rias-an-interview-with-david-malouf-and-bill-scott/#comment-38709 Oh, yes, RIA frameworks are all the rage. My experience has been that "rich" refers more to the number of widgets developers can easily add to the GUI -- and not to the client experience. I work with multiple development teams and I hear this a lot: "This «insert cool technology name here» allows us to give all these user convenience widgets right out of the box!" Discussion ensues: "Yes, but do we have a case for these conveniences? Do they help or do they serve only to impress and confuse our users? All GUI elements are guilty until proven innocent by testing." At this point, perhaps a manager weighs in with concerns about metrics of team productivity. This client experience person is seriously proposing that the team works *more* to end up with *less* on the screen... No, RIA silver bullets solve no fundamental problems and create many others. The basic idea that we should work to reduce internal Web-like navigation and provide more of the conveniences of desktop apps is an excellent objective. The key is process, testing, discussion -- not technology. Brett Merkey http://web.tampabay.rr.com/bmerkey/ Oh, yes, RIA frameworks are all the rage. My experience has been that “rich” refers more to the number of widgets developers can easily add to the GUI — and not to the client experience.

I work with multiple development teams and I hear this a lot:
“This «insert cool technology name here» allows us to give all these user convenience widgets right out of the box!”

Discussion ensues:
“Yes, but do we have a case for these conveniences? Do they help or do they serve only to impress and confuse our users? All GUI elements are guilty until proven innocent by testing.” At this point, perhaps a manager weighs in with concerns about metrics of team productivity. This client experience person is seriously proposing that the team works *more* to end up with *less* on the screen…

No, RIA silver bullets solve no fundamental problems and create many others. The basic idea that we should work to reduce internal Web-like navigation and provide more of the conveniences of desktop apps is an excellent objective. The key is process, testing, discussion — not technology.

Brett Merkey
http://web.tampabay.rr.com/bmerkey/

]]> By: Chris Hawkins http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2006/12/06/uietips-article-tips-for-designing-powerful-rias-an-interview-with-david-malouf-and-bill-scott/#comment-38598 Chris Hawkins Thu, 07 Dec 2006 02:01:06 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2006/12/06/uietips-article-tips-for-designing-powerful-rias-an-interview-with-david-malouf-and-bill-scott/#comment-38598 What is your experience with 508 compliance on the DHTML widgets? We are having a heck of a time getting this figured out, where screen readers are able to distinguish, for example, expanded information in a UI design pattern we call "expanders" - how do we make these 508? Chris@usermatters.com thanks! What is your experience with 508 compliance on the DHTML widgets? We are having a heck of a time getting this figured out, where screen readers are able to distinguish, for example, expanded information in a UI design pattern we call “expanders” - how do we make these 508?

Chris@usermatters.com
thanks!

]]> By: Michael http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2006/12/06/uietips-article-tips-for-designing-powerful-rias-an-interview-with-david-malouf-and-bill-scott/#comment-38555 Michael Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:29:03 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2006/12/06/uietips-article-tips-for-designing-powerful-rias-an-interview-with-david-malouf-and-bill-scott/#comment-38555 RIA should be in an abbr tag with the title attribute value of "Rich Internet Applications". RIA should be in an abbr tag with the title attribute value of “Rich Internet Applications”.

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