Since our new book focuses on rich interactions, I want to spend some time on Adobe Flex/AIR.

These tips are based on the best Flex resources I have found, and how you can use them to craft a great user experience. This is part 4 of 6:

• Play With It: 10 Explorers & Galleries
• Learn From the Best: 10 Great Flex Apps
• Learn From the Rest: 10 Great RIAs
• Stock Your Toolbox: 40+ Custom Flex Controls
• Review Best Practices for Designing a RIA
• Avoid Common Mistakes: 10 Anti-Patterns

Stock your Toolbox: 40+ Custom Flex Controls

Flex 3 includes a wide range of controls. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have all of the Essential Controls I use for RIA design. But fortunately, talented and industrious Flex developers have created numerous custom controls for Flex.

I pulled together a visual repository of custom Flex controls. Most of these controls were created to showcase certain functionality- not usability best practices. So some may need further refinement to comply with the usability principles discussed in the previous posts. Click on the picture for the demo.

01. Accordions

Complex Headers

Horizontal Accordion


Apple Style
More under ‘Collapsible Panels’

02. Auto Complete

More Examples

03. Bar Code Generator

04. Build a List

05. Calendar/Scheduler

ILog Elixir

Ely Greenfield’s early Scheduler

Adobe’s Scheduler on flexlib see flexlib.scheduling package

06. Captcha

07. Charts & Graphs

3D charts by iLog Elixir

Chart Drill Down with Animation

Dashed Line Series

Chart Offest

Advanced Legend

Scroll and Zoom

08. Collapsible Panels

Window Shade- panels roll up and down

Arc90’s Collapsible Panel

Early Stacked Panels

09. Cover Flow

Doug McCune’s updated Cover Flow

10. Data Visualization

Kap IT Lab
ILog Elixir
BirdEye

11. Docking

12. Drop Down Menu with Scrolling

13. Find and Highlight Text

In flexlib as Highlighter

14. Fisheye Menu (like Mac Dock)

15. Flip Card

16. Floating

17. Gantt Chart

ILOG Elixir Gantt

Doug McCune’s Early Gantt Chart

18. Inline Edit (Fields)

Early example by Ely Greenfield

Modal editing variation by Ryan Swanson
* The hover invitation to edit on a field by field basis (like Flickr) works best for infrequent edits

19. Icon Loader

On flexlib under Icon Loader

20. List/Tree Converter

On flexlib under Convertible Tree List

21. Mask (text input and validation)

On Adobe Flex Exchange

22. Multiple Document Interface (MDI)

On flexlib under flexlib.mdi

23. Magnify

24. Map Callouts

23. Pan and Zoom

24. Page Turn

Peek Panel by Bill White (nice blog)
Ely Greenfield’s early FlexBook

Didier Braun’s PageFlip

25. Pivot Table

Satish’s Pivot Table

Flex Monster product

26. Resize

Resizeable and moveable window

Resize Objects with ResizeManagerFX

27. Scrolling-Internal

In flexlib as Drag Scrolling Canvas

28. Side Tabs/Vertical Tabs

Degrafa ToggleButtonBar vertical tabs


Vertical Tab Navigator

29. Sliders

30. Sliding Panel

Early example
Slide out menu with effects instead of states

31. Sparklines

More examples:
Fusion Charts
Sherlock Informatics
Birdeye
19nates

32. Spell Check

There is also a Spell Check component on Flex Exchange

33. Tabs (configurable)

34. Text Prompt/ Watermark Fields

At flexlib under prompting TextInput

35. Tree Table

Early Tree Grid

36. Time Picker

Alternate one on Flex Exchange as Time Chooser

37. Toolbars

38. Trees

Open branches by clicking on the row
Adding leaf notes
Showing XML
Rearranging nodes with drag and drop
Drag from a Grid to a Tree

39. Upload Files

40. Vertical Browse

Comment with your custom Flex controls

Please comment with a link to your favorite custom Flex controls.

Since our new book focuses on rich interactions, I want to spend some time on Adobe Flex/AIR.

These tips are based on the best Flex resources I have found, and how you can use them to craft a great user experience. This is part 3 of 6:

• Play With It: 10 Explorers & Galleries
• Learn From the Best: 10 Great Flex Apps
• Learn From the Rest: 10 Great RIAs
• Stock Your Toolbox: The Essential Controls
• Review Best Practices for Designing a RIA
• Avoid Common Mistakes: 10 Anti-Patterns

Learn from the Rest: 10 Great RIAs

Take a look at some of the best RIAs on the web. How did I decide these are the best? I reviewed numerous applications, basing the evaluations on Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Principles for User Interface Design:

Feedback — Metaphor — Navigation — Consistency — Prevention — Recognition — Efficiency — Design — Recovery — Help

I realize these guidelines are a bit old (from 1990!)- but all applications should meet these guidelines at a minimum. The applications listed below also embody our 6 Principles for Rich Interaction:

Make it Direct — Keep it Lightweight — Stay on the Page — Provide an Invitation — Use Transitions — React Immediately

01. CrazyEgg

Fantastic application which adheres to every one of the principles. At first, I thought the confetti feature was going to ruin the evaluation, but it is a perfect balance of innovation and usability. Look at how they use common checkboxes for selection, and wiggle the confetti when a source is added- very rich, very nice.

Interactive demo is available

02. Mint

Mint’s user experience only gets better and better. You may want more features in the product (money market support…), but the features they offer are perfectly executed. Primarily developed with HTML, CSS, JS and Ajax, they chose to incorporate Flex in the Trends section.

The new Ways to Save section is completely dynamic, updating as you adjust amounts, scores and preferences.

Free registration is available

03. Wufoo

Wufoo is an extremely well designed tool that has more than meets the eyes. Play with the templates and report creator for inspiration in keeping it simple, and look at they way they use Blank Slate and Help Tips to keep you moving towards your goal. It is almost even fun!

A nice product tour and free plan is available

04. 280 Slides

One word- slick. If only all of my projects could be this perfect. Yes, it seems like Keynote (or PowerPoint) on the web, but take a closer look at some of the features. Instead of the maddening Inspector and Format menu, the common formatting functions are in the toolbar. Everything is there when I need it, they even incorporated Adobe Kuler in the color palette!

Free trial available

05. Action Method

Another very well implemented product. It is easy to get started with the Blank Slate screens providing tips and directions, and even easier to get comfortable using the product because it uses a standard screen patterns and common controls.

Every detail has been accounted for. Notice the visual design that makes it clear that the tasks can be dragged around and reordered.

Trial version available

06. Fidelity Labs

In 2006 Fidelity Labs started cranking out some very nice RIAs, one of them being Fidelity MyPlan. The Mortgage Search and Homes Sold were also very nice, but have been retired. Unfortunately, their newest 3D Portfolio Analyzer, is not up to par with their earlier beta products.

The direct interactions and what-if scenarios in MyPlan seem to have inspired Discovers Paydown Planner and other direct manipulation financial planning tools.

Fidelity MyPlan is publicly available

07. Pandora

Pandora has been around since 2005 and has finally gained popularity. It has a very simple, intuitive interface, which makes it easy to get started. The menu offers direct interaction for rating the song ‘up’ or ‘down’, while also providing advanced options such as “don’t play this song again for a month”. And the help tips, shown at just the right time in the workflow, provide a glimpse into advanced features.

Pandora is publicly available

08. Wave Maker

Wavemaker is a great example of how a complicated product with many features can be clarified with good interface design. They use a logical page flow from left to right- matching the developer workflow of adding a control to the canvas (LEFT) , physically manipulating it (CENTER), then entering tweaking the details in the properties and style panel (RIGHT).

A Cloud Edition is available

09. SugarSync

Another great product that relies upon standard screen patterns and common controls to create an intuitive efficient experience. Awarded Top 10 User Interfaces of 2008 by Jakob Nielsen. Report available for purchase.

A 45 day trial is available

10. clickshirt

clickshirt keeps it simple and fun with integrated demos and lively interactions. Event the checkout is rich, hover to see more details about the t-shirt type, click to specify the size and quantity. No gratuitous paging in this application.

clickshirt is publicly available

More Good RIAs

These products have good examples of rich usable components, although they may not have met the 10 basic principles for usability throughout the whole application.

NetVibes

Trulia Snapshot

37signals products like Highrise

Wesabe

Keep an Eye on These

iWork.com Publishing Tool

Atlas

Bespin

OtherInbox

Comment with your favorite RIA

I realize I have only skimmed the surface here, please comment with a link to the best RIA you use.

Thanks to Rob Jones and Greg Leppert for helping me pull together this list.

I realized after 3 years of using OmniGraffle, I should break down and make a cursor stencil to make my job a little easier. These are all on a transparent background, so you can put them in your wire frames to show cursor state for specific rich interactions.

It is at http://www.graffletopia.com/stencils/450

Since our book focuses on rich interactions, I want to spend some time on Adobe Flex/AIR.

These tips are based on the best Flex resources I have found, and how you can use them to craft a great user experience. This is part 2 of 6:

• Play With It: 10 Explorers & Galleries
• Learn From the Best: 10 Great Flex Apps
• Learn From the Rest: 10 Great RIAs
• Stock Your Toolbox: The Essential Controls
• Review Best Practices for Designing a RIA
• Avoid Common Mistakes: 10 Anti-Patterns

Learn from the Best: 10 Great Flex Apps

Take a look at some of the best Flex applications on the market. How did I decide these are the best? I reviewed numerous applications, basing the evaluations on Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Principles for User Interface Design:

Feedback — Metaphor — Navigation — Consistency — Prevention — Recognition — Efficiency — Design — Recovery — Help

I realize these guidelines are a bit old (from 1990!)- but all applications should meet these guidelines at a minimum. The applications listed below also embody our 6 Principles for Rich Interaction:

Make it Direct — Keep it Lightweight — Stay on the Page — Provide an Invitation — Use Transitions — React Immediately

01. Picnik

Free version available

02. Balsamiq

Trial version available

03. Sprout Builder

Demo version available.

04. Campaign Monitor by eyeblaster

Commercial application- no demo available. Awarded Top 10 User Interfaces of 2008 by Jakob Nielsen. Report available for purchase.

05. ConceptShare

Free account available.

06. Weight Watchers eTools

Commercial application- no demo available.

07. Small Worlds

Free account available

08. Buzzword

Free account available

09. Whitestone Cheese

Publicly available at www.whitestonecheese.co.nz

10. Kuler

Publicly available at kuler.adobe.com

11. SumoPaint

Free account available

Close Contenders

These apps were really close, but missed a couple of key principles, or are still maturing.

Klok

Free personal download available

Nice time tracking product in AIR- nailed the metaphor, but haven’t Made it Direct enough (yet). I instinctively want to click in my calendar to start logging my time against a certain project. Instead I have to navigate to Project View, then into Time Entries. And spinners for entering start and stop times are inefficient.

I must say I love the Weekly Time Sheet though, and the fact I can drag it to my desktop! I think this product will mature very nicely.

Tour Tracker

Up for a limited time at Amgen Tour of California.

Looks amazing. The metaphor is perfect- big map showing the course and stages- but lost points on some basic principles. Specifically Feedback- I click and click to “watch a rider” on the home page, nothing happens, so I keep clicking. And Design- a black background might demo well, but white and blue tex, all caps, sure is hard on the eyes.

Google Finance Dashboard

Publicly available at BrightPoint Consulting

This is a really nice dashboard showing what can be done with Flex & Degrafa. I can’t wait to see how they finish it out. Also check out Tom Gonzale’s blog for more amazing data visualizations with Flex and Degrafa.

htmlText Editor 2008

Publicly available at www.theflexguy.com

This is a neat little one screen application that absolutely Stays in the Page and Makes it Direct. However, the Filter Tags feature is non-standard in more than one way: “If you remove tags and see that they really were needed, you can just uncheck the box and press Filter tags again.” I know the space is limited but Undo and Redo buttons would make more sense.

Agile Agenda

Free trial download available

Project management tool in AIR. Missed the Keep it Direct, and Stay in the Page principles. Too many dialogs where simple inline editing would have sufficed. Need better icons, or text with the icons. Usability aside, the product’s functionality seems to be quite robust and well worth the price.

Comment with your favorite Flex applications

I realize I have only skimmed the surface here, please comment with a link to the best Flex UIs you know of.

Since our new book focuses on rich interactions, I wanted to spend some time on Adobe Flex/AIR.

After designing several large enterprise applications for diverse clients and industries, I’ve noticed some barriers to crafting a great experience in Flex. I think these barriers arise from the relative newness of the technology (and RIAs in general), the initial focus on development over design, and the confidence that Flex can provide a great UX out of the box. But it takes a bit more to make a Flex app really shine. Fortunately, the Flex community is chock full of talented and motivated developers who contribute amazing resources.

These tips are based on the best Flex resources I have found, and how you can use them to craft a great Flex UX. This is part 1 of 6:

• Play With It: 10 Flex Explorers
• Learn From the Best: 10 Great Flex Apps
• Learn From the Rest: 10 Great RIAs
• Stock Your Toolbox: The Essential Controls
• Review Best Practices for Designing a RIA
• Avoid Common Mistakes: 10 Anti-Patterns

Play With It: 10 Flex Explorers

I can’t think of a better way to get your feet wet than to play with these explorers.

01. Tour de Flex

02. Component Explorer

03. Style Explorer

04. Regular Expression Explorer

By Ryan Swanson

05. Charts Explorer

By Ely Greenfield

06. Efflex Effects Explorer

By Stephen Downs

07. Filter Explorer

08. Primitive Objects Explorer

09. Data Visualization Explorer

10. Button Skin Explorer

Comment with your favorite Flex explorer

I realize I have only skimmed the surface here, please comment with a link to your favorite explorer or gallery for Flex 3.

This is the third article in a three part series on patterns and principles for RIA design.

Standard Screen Patterns: 12 patterns w/100 examples
Essential Controls: 30 controls for RIA design and development
Common Component Patterns: 15 patterns and examples

Odds are good if you are designing a enterprise software or a productivity web application, you’ll need a number of these components. Don’t spend time and effort on (re)designing these ancillary features- try these solutions instead.

01. Add Another

Wufoo (button)

Gmail (link)

Requirement: Need to offer multiple input fields for the same thing, but unsure how many the user may need
Example: Add attachments, enter phone numbers, upload photos…
Description: The “add another” link or button should be in proximity to the field, and the remove option is shown an attachment is added, and only one “add another” link is shown at a time. No need to show the remove button until at least one entry is shown.

02. Add/Manage Tags

Highrise (inline edit)

Mint (dialog)

Requirement: Need a way to add non-structured meta data to an object that can later be searched
Example: While adding recruits to a CRM system, the recruiter wants to note applicants’ interests and hobbies
Description: Place the tags in close proximity to the object being taggged. Allow for direct adding of additional tags and editing. You can take the 37signals approach and let users type in any tags they want- running the risk of duplicate, misspelled or overlapping concept tags. Or use Mint’s approach and let users select from the existing list of tags, and/or add new ones.

03. Add/Edit or Select from Existing

Highrise

Requirement: Need to pick from an existing option, add a new option, or edit an existing option
Example: Recording receipts for household expenses, and there is not a category for pet/vet bills. Add a new category for “pets”, which will now show up as an option in the list
Description: Place the option for “add new…” at the bottom of the options. Open a new dialog or light weight layer to add the new option. Place edit to the right of the list box, edit can be a new screen or dialog for editing all the options.

04. Advanced Filter

Mission 360 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Requirement: Need to refine the data set based on specified criteria
Example: In a bug tracking system, a developer needs to see all bugs assigned to him, in the last 24 hours, related to the production system, containing the term “feedback”
Description: Provide a dynamic filter field and offer an advanced filter option, where the user can specify criteria for refining the data set. Allow the criteria to be saved (usually as a ‘view’), that can be accessed again. Note* Luke W. has a great article describing multiple techniques for refining data tables.

05. Build a List (aka Accumulator)

LinkedIn

Requirement:Need to create a list from an existing set of options
Example: Invite some of your friends from your existing list of webmail contacts, or build a list of hot prospects for a sales campaign
Description: When a user needs to select items from separate sets of search results or other large, unwieldy data sets- let them manipulate the left (search, sort, navigate or filter), and add to the right.

06. Build an Expression (aka Predicate Editor)

Wufoo

Mac OS predicate editor inspired web versions of this component

Requirement: Need to define a set of conditions that build on each other.
Example: Complex search or building a report filter, or building a mathematical function
Description: Design it so the expression can be read, left to right, top to bottom. Each line can be edited, removed, or deleted, and possibly rearranged in order.

07. Contextual Toolbar

Picnik

Requirement: Need to perform an action that has multiple input parameters
Example: Analyst needs to apply a discount to all the rows in a table, clicks the ‘discount’ tool. The discount options: discount percent [10%] or flat rate discount [$0.00], are then provided.
Description: Group the actions in a toolbar, and as one is selected, disclose the input parameters. Offer a live preview if applicable.

08. Customizable Data Grid

Flexigrid demo

Requirement: Need robust data grid from viewing, editing and manipulating data
Example: A CRM system with contacts displayed in a table/data grid
Description: Offer simple and advanced filtering, ability to directly resize columns, ability to directly rearrange columns, hide/show columns, sorting. If also providing editing, provide a toolbar that includes undo and redo actions.

09. Drag & Drop Reorder

Basecamp

Cogmap

Requirement: Need to reorder a text list, visual map, or tree because the order is indicative of priority or hierarchical relationship
Example: To-do list, org chart, tree
Description: Make sure to follow the interaction principles for all the states of drag and drop management, most importantly providing a visual cue the list can be rearranged, like the drag handles in the examples. Refer to Bill’s Interesting Moments Grid for implementing the interaction properly.

10. Full Screen

Picnik

RadEditor Demo

Requirement: Need more real estate for core functionality
Example:Editing a photo, designing a work flow, navigating a map
Description: Place the toggle in the top left corner (make sure it remains in the same spot and visible even in the full screen mode). The branding and top level navigation can be hidden in this mode. Don’t add any more elements into the full screen mode- just enlarge the workspace.

11. Graph Drill Down

Wesabe

Dundas Charts

Requirement: Need to show a summary view and allow a quick and efficient drill down to view more details, instead of navigating deeper into the graph
Example: A specific datapoint has multiple sets of information available. The main graph could show sales volume by sales person over time, and the hover detail breaks it down by new versus existing clients
Description: Provide a visual indicator (like a dot) that hover details are available. Use a non-modal layer to display the next level of data.

12. Live Preview

Fidelity MyPlan

Mint Savings Finder

Requirement: Need provide live feedback on changing criteria
Example: Graphic designer altering the hue of a photo needs to see the effect as he adjust the value
Description: Provide easy to manipulate controls, and an “apply” and “cancel” options, or “revert” feature.

13. Slide Down

RetailMeNot.com (inline)

Weight Watchers (overlay)

Requirement: Need to show more details, or input details
Example: Reading an article in a list of articles, scan the first paragraph and want to read more, or read the comments.
Description: Expand inline or overlay without leaving the page or opening a new window/dialog. Use smooth transitions and a fixed height scroll window like RetailMeNot. Provide the close link in the same spot.

14. Split a Transaction

Mint

Requirement: Need to allocate a single item across multiple categroies
Example: Dividing a transaction (ex. allocating a 50% of a donation to one recipient, and 50% to another recipient, or $2.00 as a fee, and $200.00 as cash withdraw)
Description: Split button placed unobtrusively in the transaction detail pane, could also be a tool in the table toolbar, enabled when a row is selected. Opens a dialog allowing the user to re-allocate the data as needed.

15. Switch To

Basecamp

Zoho

Requirement: Need to infrequently navigate out of one module into another without returning to a control panel, dashboard or dock
Example: Working in one project, finish and need to work on another one
Description: Make the switch less visually prominent than the main navigation, but still easily accessible (top right or left, above the main menu).

This is the second article in a three part series on patterns and principles for RIA design.

Standard Screen Patterns: 12 patterns w/100 examples
Essential Controls: 30 controls for RIA design and development
Components for Commonly Requested Features: 15 patterns and examples

Every designer has a set of controls they rely on to communicate an effective UI. This is my library of essential controls.

Unfortunately, no single RIA framework offers all 30 of these. So I included a checklist of which frameworks provide each control. If you have an addition or correction, please e-mail me, and I will post an updated framework/control matrix.

The frameworks reviewed include: Flex, Laszlo, Silverlight and 12 Ajax frameworks and toolkits: ExtJS, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, SproutCore, LivePipeUI,IT Mill, Backbase.

01. Auto Suggest

Google’s Auto-Complete

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight.

02. Carousel (variation as Coverflow)

Carousel Prototype carousel widget

Supported by: YUI, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, ITMill, Backbase, iCarousel

Coverflow MediaEvent Service’s Slideflow

Supported by: Flex, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, RadControls for Silverlight

03. Charts & Graphs

Charts Advanced charting features like hover details, drill down, rolling windows, toggle views…

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery (SWF/Chart), MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, SilverLight, AnyChart, Dundas, JPowered, JFreeChart, OpenFlashCharts, Flot, Plotr, PlotKit, WebFX, AjaxMcGraph, Measure Map.

04. Collapsible Panels (accordion, disclosure triangles, slide drawer)

Accordion Mutually exclusive collapsible panels showing status

Disclosure arrows Mint.com uses disclosure arrows for summarizing and displaying accounts

Sliding panel Fluxiom uses a sliding panel instead of a dialog to show the selected photo’s details

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs (called panels), Dojo, Google Web Toolkit (disclosure panel), Prototype/script.aculo.us (accordion), JQuery, MooTools (accordion), MochaUI (split pane), SproutCore (split pane), IT Mill, Backbase (accordion), RadControls for Silverlight (PanelBar and Sliding Panel).

05. Combobox (select multiple, alternate list box UI, editable)

Select multiple LivePipe UI’s control takes less space and is easier to scan than an ocean of checkboxes

Alternate listbox UI Best alternative for multi select in small spaces, clearly displays all selections, and provides an easy way to edit

Supported by: Alternate Listbox UI, LivePipeUI

Editable combobox Editable combobox allows for lookup and/or text entry

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools (MUI.ComboBox), IT Mill, Backbase, RadControls for Silverlight.

06. Date Picker/Calendar (select range, date/time combination)

Advanced calendar Select a range, discontinuous dates, or exclude a certain day

Date/time picker Select a date and time in a single control

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJS, Dojo, YUI, JQuery, Scal built on Prototype, MooTools, MochUI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight, dhtmlxCalendar, keyboard accessible calendar, more examples on Woork

07. Dialogs (modal, light weight, lightbox)

Modal dialog Mint offers a modal for adding an account

Modeless dialog Google Maps provides a modeless dialog for getting directions

Lightbox JQuery provides a lightbox plugin, a modal dialog that blacks out the parent screen

Supported by: Flex(modal), Laszlo (modal and modeless), ExtJs (modal), Dojo (modal and lightbox), YUI( listed under Containers: Modal and Overlay), Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery (modal, modeless, lightbox) , SproutCore (has a really nice example of each under ‘panes’), MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase (modal and modeless window), Silverlight (modal and lightbox).

08. Docking

Dockable menu Campaign Manager by eyeblaster offers a pinned/unpinned menu for navigating between campaigns

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, Backbase, Silverlight.

09. Drag & Drop Manager

Drag and drop ExtJS photo organizer demo

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, Backbase, Silverlight.

10. Dynamic Filter

Dynamic table filtering Flex offers a filter feature that dynamically filters the results while the user types, demo

Dynamic column filtering Dynamic filtering can be implemented at the column level providing advanced filtering capabilities
Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, JQuery, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight, Open Rico

11. Feedback/ Status

Feedback Gmail status message

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

12. Fisheye/ Spotlight

Fisheye Apslab Fish-eye Lense

Apply this concept to a dense chart or map for a truly useful feature.

Supported by: Flex, ExtJs (spotlight), Dojo , Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Silverlight

13. Gauges (and other visual progress or status indicators)

Gauge Thermometer gauge in RadControls for Silverlight

Gauges provide a concise visual summary in heads-up-display or other goal directed designs

Supported by: Flex (various plug-ins and Flex Charting), ExtJs (combined with GWT), Dojo, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery (SWF/Gauge), MooTools, MochaUI, Silverlight, AnyChart, Dundas

14. Help Tip/ Quick Tip

Quick Tip Picnik engages new users with some helpful advice

More than just a tooltip, these are fully formatted messages typically presented in a modeless dialog.

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI (use overlay container), Google Web Toolkit (use popup panel), Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI (use window control), IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

15. Hot Keys

Hot keys Balsamiq Mockups has hot keys for frequent actions

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Mochui, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

16. Hover Action

Hover action Instead of cluttering the screen with redundant actions, Basecamp reveals the edit and delete actions onHover

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, YUI, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, Silverlight, good post by Bill on hover actions and missed moments

17. Hover Detail

Hover detail Netflix hover details

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI (overlay), Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools (smart hover box), IT Mill, Silverlight

18. Inline Edit

Inline edit Instead of showing form fields in pages that are usually read (not edited), Flickr provides inline editing

Supported by: Flex (only in the grid), Laszlo (only in the grid), ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase (only in the grid), Silverlight (only in the grid)

19. Progress Indicator/ Loading

Progress indicator Picnik loading indicator

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

20. Rating

Star rating Graffletopia offers one-click star ratings for shared stencils

Supported by: ExtJs extension, Dojo widget, Starbox for Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools , MochaUI

21. Record Locator/ Paginator

Record locator Like the control in PDF Viewer, the record locator lets you navigate through records in a dataset or skip to a specific record by name

Paginator Typically used for paging through tables, screens, or other result sets

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, LivePipe UI, Backbase, Silverlight

22. Slider

Slider Innography provides sliders in their quick filter for refining results displayed on a chart

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase, RadControls for Silverlight

23. Scoped Search

Scoped search Like iTunes, allows for the optional selection of a category before entering free form search text, example from Vimeo’s help page

Supported by: custom css and js code, example at Janko at warp speed, RadControls for Silverlight

24. Sparklines

Sparklines Great way to show the “shape” or trend of data is a small space, examples from RetailMeNot.com and Google Analytics. Created by Edward Tufte.

Supported by: Nuby on Rails, Any Chart, JQuery plugin, Flex , and two more ones for Flex at Microcharts and Birdeye, Google API, Visifire for Silverlight

25. Table/ Data Grid ( scrolling, editable, grouped)

Scrolling table Endless scrolling, no paging, just like a desktop app, example from ExtJS

Editable table Blist offers inline cell editing in their products. Best practice, highlight the selected row, and only display an editor in the selected cell. Don’t forget to accomodate keyboard navigation.

Tree table Grouping by row, displays as a tree table, example from ExtJS

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Backbase, Silverlight

26. Toolbar

Toolbar Provide actions in proximity to the object, examples from SugarSync and Flickr

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, Prototype/script.aculo.us, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, RadControls for Silverlight

27. Vertical Browser

Vertical browser Apple’s vertical browser for exploring Dashboard widgets

Supported by: custom code of multiple list boxes

28. View Toggle (buttons, button bar)

Toggle buttons Separate buttons for switching between graph and grid views Campaign Manager by eyeblaster

Toggle button bar Single button bar for capturing binary choices

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Dojo, YUI, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, Backbase, Silverlight

29. WYSIWYG Editor/ Rich Text Editor

Rich text editor WordPress offers a a WYSIWYG editor for blogging

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, Dojo, YUI, Google Web Toolkit, JQuery, MooTools, MochaUI, IT Mill, Backbase, Silverlight

30. Zoom

Zoom Zoom in on a certain spot, example from jQZoom

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs (spotlight), Prototype/script.aculo.us (zOOm), JQuery, MooTools (Joomla), MochaUI, Silverlight (silverZoom)

Bonus- Desktop Style Container

Desktop style app OtherInbox built with SproutCore

A desktop style container isn’t actually a control, but frequently required when developing enterprise software and productivity web applications. Many of the frameworks that offer this feature include built in windows management, split panels, and fluid layout.

Supported by: Flex, Laszlo, ExtJs, YUI, JQuery, MochaUI, Backbase, SproutCore, Silverlight

Send me any corrections and/or additions, and I will upload an updated control/framework matrix.

Thanks to Joonas Lehtinen of IT Mill, Ryan Johnson of LivePipe, and Peter Svensson who is a Dojo expert, and Darren James, co-author of Ajax in Action.

Update* Cody Lindley at jQuery provided a comprehensive list with links to code for jQuery support for all 30 controls.

To celebrate the release of our new O’Reilly book, “Designing Web Interfaces: Principles and Patterns for Rich Interactions”, I want to share an additional set of principles and patterns I have been using for RIA design. While the book takes a much more consumer web site orientation, these concepts are central to enterprise application and web productivity application design and more broad than those discussed in the book.

This is the first article in a three part series.

Standard Screen Patterns: 12 patterns w/100 examples
Essential Controls: 30 controls for RIA design and development
Components for Commonly Requested Features: 15 patterns and examples

With more companies turning to RIA frameworks for enterprise software development, these screen patterns are indispensable for product managers, UX designers, information architects, interaction designers and developers. The patterns rely heavily upon desktop design principles, subtly blended with many of the better RIA components and principles. I’ve included 100 examples to illustrate these patterns, pulled from desktop, Flex/AIR, Ajax, Laszlo, and Silverlight applications.

01. Master/Detail

Master/Detail screen pattern can be vertical or horizontal. Ideal for creating an efficient user experience by allowing the user to stay in the same screen while navigating between items. Horizontal layout is a good choice when the user needs to see more information in the master list than just a few identifiers- or when the master view is comprised of a set of items that each have additional details. Click on thumbnail for larger image OR download the PDF.

02. Column Browse

The Browse screen pattern can be vertical or horizontal. Ideal for creating an custom user experience by allowing the user to start from various entry points for navigating to the item(s) they are interested in.

03. Search/ Results

The Search screen pattern can range from very simple to quite advanced. Ideal for creating an efficient user experience by allowing the user to navigate directly to an item or set of items meeting specific criteria.

04. Filter Dataset

The Filter Dataset screen pattern can be vertical or horizontal. Ideal for creating an efficient user experience by allowing the user to refine a set of known data, or further refine search results.

05. Forms

All Form screens should be approached with a solid understanding of usability and design best practices. Refer to “Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks” by Luke Wroblewski for reference.

06. Palette/ Canvas

The Palette/ Canvas screen pattern is seldom the right pattern to apply, but it is the only pattern for documenting or creating: linear or non-liner processes; flow diagrams; screen layouts; design/diagram with physical size or layout constraints.

07. Dashboard

A well designed Dashboard will provide: key information at a glance, real time data, easy to read graphics, clear entry points for exploration This is typically not achieved by displaying a single screen of metrics (either in a big table, or just a bunch of graphs). Providing a high degree of customization is no substitute for user research and testing. Stephen Few has a nice book on this topic Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data .

08. Spreadsheet

The Spreadsheet screen pattern is ideal for creating an efficient user experience by allowing the user to easily scan, edit and enter information (in bulk). The Spreadsheet should provide the following functionality: standard table features like sort, hide/show columns, rearrange columns, group by (if applicable), global level undo/redo, add/insert/delete row, keyboard navigation, import and export.

09. Wizard

The Wizard/Quick Start screen pattern is ideal for creating an efficient user experience by guiding the user through a complex or infrequent workflow.

10. Question & Answer

The Q&A screen pattern is ideal for creating an efficient user experience by allowing the user to enter known information and receive a solution. Q & A differs from Search in that this pattern should be used to assist users in identifying possible options or a single recommendation in an arena they are lacking expertise (health insurance, mortgages, planning, purchases).

11. Parallel Panels

The Parallel Panels screen pattern can be stacked (showing one at a time) or unstacked (showing all at once). This pattern is ideal for organizing chunks of information that are similar or have interdependent tendencies. Efficiency is gained by keeping the user in one screen. Ideal candidates for the stacked variation of this pattern are simple work-flows with: a high level, visible goal that is fed by multiple inputs, multiple non-sequential steps. This combines a number of the web site patterns outlined in “Designing Interfaces” by Jennifer Tidwell for a single pattern for chunking and displaying data.

12. Interactive Model

The Interactive Model screen pattern is characterized by many interactive elements associated with the key object (a calendar, map, graph, chart, canvas). It is ideal for creating a user experience that is closely aligned with the user’s mental model (a natural fit). Excellent candidates for this pattern are: calendars, maps, gantt charts, what-if scenarios (including calculators), WYSIWYG editors (including photo editing).

Bonus. Blank State

This is the natural state of the application, before any data has been entered or accessed. The book, “Getting Real” by 37signals”explains that a blank state screen is an excellent place to set users expectations. By giving them a preview this can lower anxiety and reduce frustration and confusion. Items to include in a blank state screen include: videos, quick tutorials, help tips, a screenshot of what a fully loaded screen will look like.

Missing Patterns?

Noticeably absent are two patterns that are grossly overused and misused in enterprise software- portals and tabs.

1. Portals- If your market research, business requirements and user feedback lead you to design a portal, follow the same design principles and best practices as the Dashboard pattern.
2. Tabs- Tabs are a component, and ultimately not a screen pattern. They are to alternate between views of data in the same context. If the data structure is leading you to a tab heavy UI design, I have two suggestions. First, reconsider the IA. Use card sorting and/or hire a professional Information Architect to help you for a few days. Second, follow the same design principles and best practices as the Parallel Panels pattern.

You can download a PDF of this post which includes full descriptions of each pattern, as well as best practices at my site www.designgenie.org.

References

(1) “Web Form Design:Filling in the Blanks” by Luke Wroblewski. Rosenfeld Media, May 2008.
(2) Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective Interaction Design” by Jennifer Tidwell. OReilly Media, November 2005.
(3) “Getting Real” by 37signals

If you are looking for web site design patterns, here are a number of excellent books:

• The Design of Sites: Patterns for Creating Winning Web Sites (2nd edition).
• The Design of Sites: Patterns, Principles, and Processes for Crafting a Customer-Centered Web Experience
• “The Principles of Beautiful Web Design”. Jason Beaird.
• Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective Interaction Design
• Designing Web Navigation: Optimizing the User Experience

Just in case you need to whip up wire frames for Flex apps before Adobe’s Flash Catalyst) hits the market- here is my Flex 3 Stencil for OmniGraffle, posted at Graffletopia. I have used it for a couple of projects where I would rather be focusing my energy on brainstorming a good UI than nudging things around in Flex Builder.

OmniGraffle Flex 3 Stencil

Keep an eye out fro my next post. I am celebrating building my 20th major RIA with a list of 20 Essential UI components for RIA design, lots of Ajax and Flex examples. These aren’t the usual suspects either…

I just posted a new stencil on Graffletopia. It is the stencil I have been using to make wire frames for iPhone web applications.

This makes it pretty easy to open OmniGraffle and put together some designs for discussion and testing.

And although I included tabs as a component, make sure to refer to Apple’s iPhone Human Interface Guidelines which encourage the use of lists for navigation: