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Creativity vs. Convention
Many user interface projects are sidetracked when they meet up with the developer's need for creativity. Unfortunately, an application's user interface doesn't just determine how a program looks, it also determines how it acts (or from the user's point of view, how it works).
Ask yourself this question: would car manufacturers allow the same degree of creativity that some developers take in application design? The world's reliance on vehicles (and the seriousness of any mistake) makes it almost impossible to imagine a car manufacturer taking the same kind of liberties. Every year, new car models appear that have been tweaked by entire design teams of engineers with bold promises that they are entirely new and modern. It doesn't take much inspection to see that the air conditioners and radios always work almost exactly the same as before, down to the last button; the steering wheel looks and works exactly the same way; the seat configuration is generally unchanged; and the controls for starting, stopping, and slowing the car down are indistinguishable. The average driver could close his or her eyes and still locate the ignition in most cars.
Even in the better applications of today, this consistency is rare. If you install a new program on your computer, are you confident that Ctrl+S is the save document command? Will File ? Print send your document straight to the printer or give you a chance to tweak some setting first? And exactly where do you find the menu command for that all-important Preferences or Options window… under Tools, Edit, or File?
Tip
On the good side, some conventions are well followed (like using Esc to exit a dialog box). Other conventions have taken over just because Microsoft enforces them, like the editing commands built in to standard controls like the text box, and the way you resize or move a window.To make a long story short, convention is the way that users learn to work with a variety of software. Violating convention because convention is somehow inferior to your highly idiosyncratic vision is doomed to fail. It just multiplies the amount of information a user needs to know to use computer software.
Consistency in .NET
Microsoft has made no secret that one of its goals with the .NET platform is to make the programming model more consistent for different programmers. You can see this in the different .NET languages, which share a consistent set of data types and functionality drawn from a shared class library. You can see this in the lavish use of interfaces and inheritance, which defines how specialized classes should work so they resemble other, similar classes. You can even see this in the way Visual Studio .NET allows you to use its powerful debugging tools, regardless of whether you're working with code for a Windows project, ASP.NET page, or even a database stored procedure.
In short, if consistency is so prized by cutting-edge software developers, why would anyone assume it's not just as important for the beginning computer user?
The "Act-Like-Microsoft" Principle
Windows developers have it rather easy. The secret to making a program that the average user can understand, and even enjoy, is usually just to copy Microsoft as closely as possible. That isn't to say that Microsoft has made the best choices in their applications—but for the most part, that isn't important. If the users of your application have ever used another application, chances are that it's been Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, or Internet Explorer. In fact, if your users are regular computer users, they probably spend the majority of their computing time with Word and Excel.
There's rarely a good reason for deviating from Microsoft standards. If average users have learned anything, it's the common keystrokes and menu organizations in an Office application. Not only that, but Microsoft is also known to pour ridiculous amounts of money into extensive usability tests, suggesting that their designs might not only be more recognizable than yours … they could very well be better.
If you aren't creating an office productivity or document-based application, you should still pay careful attention to Microsoft's designs. In almost every field, they have a well-worn example (including playing music, browsing the Internet, and reading email). In some cases, you might need to investigate another application (like Adobe Photoshop in the graphics arena), but Microsoft is generally the standard.
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Remember, when you follow expected conventions, you don't just make it easier for users to learn your application.You also help train those users for the next programmer's software.
Administrative Utilities
One good example of a Windows convention is found in Microsoft's design of system and management utilities. These utilities almost always use a paired Tree-View and ListView control, loosely resembling Windows Explorer. In Windows 2000 and later operating systems, Microsoft uses this design everywhere it can, even stretching the convention to apply it to computer hardware configuration and user management (see Figure 1-5).
Figure 1-5: Explorer-like user interface
This type of design has significant merits. First of all, it's easy to see how items are related. The TreeView suggests the basic levels of grouping and subgrouping. You can often add multiple TreeView levels to combine features that would be scattered across several different windows. You can also gather a great deal of information without leaving the window. The ListView pane can be adapted to show a variety of types of data, without obscuring the navigational controls (the TreeView), allowing the users to be at ease. Finally, it doesn't enforce any required order for performing tasks. It also makes use of graphical icons to help break up the monotony of what can be a great deal of information displayed at once.
This design also has some idiosyncrasies. For example, the menu conventions favor a streamlined Action menu instead of File and Tools menus. Sometimes records are edited in a special window that appears in place of the ListView, while in other cases a separate window pops up to allow the changes. It's also extremely ambitious. It could quickly confuse more basic users, who tend to have trouble understanding the relationship between the TreeView and the ListView control. Thus, the use of this interface style depends on your target audience.
In an impressive attempt to achieve standardization, this design is found in almost all of Microsoft's current programs, from SQL Server to Visual Studio .NET. It's an example of a lesser-known, yet keenly important Microsoft standard: the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) framework. Currently, you can't create MMC applications in .NET, but you can (and should) follow the organization and conventions for common utility and management tasks like configuring users or browsing a database. You see examples of this style in the later chapters of this book.
Ultimately, you need to know both your application type and your audience. For example, while the MMC design is ideal for advanced tasks, Microsoft Office provides the canonical rules for document-based applications geared to less experienced users.
Know Your Application Type
If you can't identify the type of application you are creating, you are in for a rough time. Here are some common types (which you examine in this book):
The configuration utility. This may be based on a single control panel or organized into a more sophisticated wizard.
The workspace. This is a pattern followed for sophisticated applications, particularly for proprietary software where it may be the only application used on certain workstations. The workspace is an "application desktop" that combines a set of features into a common environment that may add some kind of status display.
The document editor. This is one of the most common Windows application types.
The monitor. Generally, this is a system tray program that lurks in the background, automatically performing certain tasks when directed by the user or when it receives notification from the operating system. For example, it might wait for a file and automatically copy or import it. If you need to interact with this program, it's typically through a context menu for its system tray icon.
The data browser. This is generally organized as an Explorer-type of application that lists records, and allows you to view and update them.
Know Your User
Different audiences require different degrees of assistance. The user browsing quickly and effortlessly through the intricacies of the Windows registry with regedit.exe is not the same user who turns to Microsoft Agent for help creating a graph. If you are designing a professional application for a specific audience, it may help you to begin by creating a user profile that clearly identifies the abilities, expectations, and computer comfort level of the end user.
However, the "know your user" principle is often used as a crutch to excuse complicated interfaces based on the imagined requirements of professional users. As a rule, it is possible to design an interface that combines power-user shortcuts and first-time-user guidance. In fact, it's essential. The users of your application will have different requirements when they first begin to use the software (or evaluate it for a potential purchase) than when they master it as part of their daily routine. A good interface recognizes these challenges, and helps guide users as much as necessary, without obstructing functionality. For example, consider Microsoft Word, where novice users find their way around using the menus for clues, intermediate users save clicks with the toolbar icons, and power users can work speedily with shortcut keys and drag and drop. Not only does this interface handle multiple user levels, it helps users graduate from one level to another, because toolbar buttons match menu commands, and menu text includes the relevant shortcut keys.
Note
Be careful not to overestimate the user. The typical programmer spends an incredible amount of time planning and working with an application, and can't really imagine what it would be like to see the application for the first time.The greatest art of user interface design is creating applications that can be used efficiently by different levels of users. To master this art, you need to know where to impose restrictions, and how to handle complexity.
