> But what about the universal standard usability in HTML > based applications? The power of HTML is its standardization. > A drop down box is a drop down box no matter the browser, > OS, internet connection. A user who recognizes an underlined > word as a link, can assume that for all HTML based applications. > > You want to throw away everything the user has become > accustomed to, and rewriting your own rules of usability > for every application, and this is supposed to provide > the user with a better experience? Seems like you are > just going to alienate the user, and make surfing the > web increasingly difficult.
When I read this, I had a real deja-vu moment. When I first started building web applications, these same arguments were used against them, by people building client-server applications - HTML simply didn't provide standard user interfaces like, say, every Windows application IDE (VB, Delphi, VC++, etc). In every typical client-server application, you had a very clear standard for forms-based interfaces, and they all pretty much looked alike and acted alike. Within HTML, on the other hand, you had pictures all over the place, there's no concept of a grid layout, and after every significant user action, you typically redraw the entire interface! Now, while people have gotten more or less used to that in their HTML interfaces, there's enough difference between many of them that it's very hard to apply consistent lessons, from a user's perspective. This problem is serious enough to keep Jakob Neilsen and his ilk in demand, so it obviously hasn't been solved yet. Flash, like HTML, allows the developer to make an interface unlike all the others, but it doesn't stop you from following common interface standards. All other things being equal, a Flash interface can provide more functionality than an HTML interface for an application; bad Flash interfaces may be worse than good HTML interfaces, but a good Flash interface can be better than a good HTML one. Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software http://www.figleaf.com/ voice: (202) 797-5496 fax: (202) 797-5444 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=4 FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
