On Oct 9, 2008, at 12:22 PM, Caroline Jarrett wrote:
Applications are an interesting complication. My experience has been
that
users can either perceive them as 'this is really an application' or
as
'this is really a web page'. (I'm sure that most people don't
articulate
those thoughts, I'm just referring to the subliminal way in which
users
respond).
To clarify, I work on both web and desktop applications. In both
cases, one of the main tasks of the user is filling out forms. These
are data logging and reporting type tasks. So, it is very much a form
within the context of an application—not just application screens that
include form widgets.
...I recall quite a lot of confusing application layouts but now you
come to
mention it, I don't recall specifically two-column application
layouts much.
They tended to be more all over the place.
Have you ever tested a well-designed two-column layout against a well-
designed one-column layout? And of course, the next question is, how
do you first assure that you have "well-designed" forms to test
against each other? And, if the two-column form fails, is there such a
thing as a "well-designed" two-column form to begin with? Obviously, I
would argue that there is.
/aside - the columnist's lament
I completely understand. "Two-column forms are best avoided" is a much
better title than "Two-column forms are best avoided for web forms
that are sequential, single-session interactions." That's the
difference between a column and a CHI paper. ;)
And now back to me learning more: It would be great to see some
examples of
your two-column application layouts. Have you had the opportunity to
test
any of them with users?
I'll see if I can dig up an example of one of my screens that I can
share. I have had the opportunity to observe people using the forms in
field trials, but no formal testing. The feedback and observations
from those trials, however, was geared more towards bigger interaction
issues and functionality—not so much about the details of layout. At
the least, there was nothing especially annoying about the layout to
cause them to comment, and no unexpected behavior I noticed that I
linked to the layout.
Best,
Jack
Jack L. Moffett
Interaction Designer
inmedius
412.459.0310 x219
http://www.inmedius.com
You could design a process to catch
everything, but then you're overprocessing.
You kill creativity. You kill productivity.
By definition, a culture like ours that
drives innovation is managed chaos.
-Alex Lee
President, OXO International
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