Interface Design and UX Thread - How our App Looks

[StevenWWinters]

... So, I am not sure if it is feasible...

It's feasible. It may take some time to develop, but C# and the .net environment, like most programming environments, have many objects including images, buttons with images, etc. Those object can have code triggered by events, just like the standard checkbox, textbox, dropdown list, etc. Point is, there are ways.

However, I agree that it's important to first focus on developing a functioning / working model and then add the "bells and whistles".

Also, being an open source project, there could theoretically be forks that could provide different "skins", should anyone want to take it that far...

[Barbara B]

Hi Grace,

If I were doing this as a web page, I'd either make the gear tabs absolutely placed buttons or I'd make them Image map hot spots. Probably use the image map.

The 10 forms/tab contents could be in an CSS image/contact slider that was controlled by the tabs, or they could be in a z-index stack whose viability was toggled on or off by the button/gear tabs.

Or, I'd hunt around and find a nice script to bring the forms in using javascript or such. This is a demo of a script I found with a quick Google search, and I'd probably not use this one, but it generally shows the idea. http://coboldinosaur.com/pages/round-slide-show.html I wouldn't use an iris though, I'd use fade in or such.

The design is basically 2 layered squares with the roundness coming from alpha channel masking.

[mindseye]

Hotspots is all I needed to hear.


Thanks for the clarifications all.

mindseye.

[Gare]

@Grace and Steve—

Barbara's illustration, to me, provides a clear direction.

If there are any fuzzy areas or parts that might be interpreted as too difficult/not with the time to code, can one of the artists here do a variation on Barbara's work to expand the visible possibilities?

To me, it's a very easy to navigate hub, in addition to the Cool Factor.

-g

[Barbara B]

I'm incredibly flattered by the reception my sketch has received. My inspiration for this was some of the cool skins that people have made for audio or video players, as well as the interfaces Kai Krause used to do for Kai's Power Tools.

But I know that there have to be other wonderful, graphically rich designs floating around in TG user's heads, and I'd really like to see them. I don't think we are in any hurry to decide on the UI yet.

Additionally I have no idea how to integrate the logo contenders with this gear idea, but I'm sure the artists and designers here on TG can find a way if they care to riff on the gear.

And as far as the gear idea goes in my head I could see it as a wonderful Steampunk thing with switches and pulleys etc for other elements like choosing which program is being configured etc. Or it could be photorealistic, or it could be a stencil, or 3D or really, really flat - Win 8ish. All these ideas I can see in my head, but I don't have the skill or the time to work them all out - but maybe these ideas on variations will tickle someone's imagination.

[mindseye]

Love the gear thing as well..

Not sure if this will help or hurt, but I gathered a designs from DeviantArt...

I in no way plan on copying, just some inspirations and ideas..

Love the idea with the gear as the container, utilizing hotspots will free up many design constraints that happen from Windows Native GUI..






Regards,
mindseye.


EDIT:

More inspiration could be found searching for game GUI etc. im sure.

[Gare]

mindseye, your example image looks a lot like the work of Layne Karkruff, a Macintosh UI designer whose work I've loved for years if not a decade.

Download some of his wallpaper and see if it isn't inspirational vis a vis what we're doing.

BlueSkey Heart Graphics



-g

[mindseye]

Yep... Love it! and still do love that style. How can that get old? The depth and quality is just beautiful.

Thanks, another bookmark added.

Animated PNG, oh yeah.



mindseye.

[Gare]

I don't think rich, photorealistic renderings will ever go completely out of style, mindseye, but as far as UIs go, "skeuomorphic" is a trend, not a movement, and it's being supplanted by "the flat look", specifically Microsoft Windows 8 Metro look. Even Apple is "getting it", and moving away from literal paintings of iconic representations.

Skeomorphic at top



Flat at bottom

This sort of treatment historically has been for international signs, like No Smoking, and Men's Room, not to editorialize too much!



Which doesn't mean that We have to go with the flow. On the contrary: Microsoft has encountered so much blowback over version 8 that they issuing version 8.1 later this year and 8 adopters get a free upgrade.

I think we just really need to decide what art we are able to create is the easiest read in the UI: simpler is sometimes better, but not always. And a visually rich UI is value-added as far as customer perception goes. Look at Painter's old UI compared to PaintShop Pro, to compare two Corel products.

My Best,

Gary

[Gare]

This is just a different "treatment" of Barbara's design concept: a blueprint motif.



And if you really, really, really, really HATE blue, I guess on dark grey it could look like a chalkboard.

My Best,

Gary