Articles on Design Patterns
Our continuous work on enterprise application design projects has allowed us to encounter, ponder, and solve many user interface problems. Here is a selection of some of the articles that we have written on the subject over the years.
Making Complex Web Navigation a Usable Experience May 2011
Information and feature overload is reducing user productivity and effectiveness. This article discusses the pragmatic approaches of Information Architecture to develop usable navigation models with complex systems.
Leveraging Enterprise Applications with Web 2.0 Mar 2007
We believe Web 2.0 is not a revolution as much as an evolution. Simply put, the web is finally leveraging standards (CSS, JavaScript, etc) to deliver engaging, interactive and integrated content in ways that allow users to focus on the task and the customer rather than the interface.
A Pattern for Selecting Dates Jun 2003
Allowing users to enter dates into a form can be more confusing then it should be. Jim, takes a look at establishing a consistent pattern for solving this issue.
Using Tab Patterns with Web Applications Jan 2003
Jim and Andrew establish a consistent pattern for selecting a single item from a list of categorized items using a file folder metaphor.
Implementing Visual Design Patterns Aug 2002
Countless designs have been deployed to very large user communities only to result in poor usability. Jim looks at visual design patterns (VDP) as a way of telling the developer when, why, and how the design solution can be applied successfully
Using Patterns to Capture Design Experience Dec 2001
Jim looks at how design guidelines can be used to capture design knowledge and help make the best decisions when creating user interfaces.
Creating a Professional Splash Screen Feb 1998
The splash screen is the first thing that users see when they enter your application. You should think of it as the cover of a book — a good first impression says a lot.
Menu Design for Complex Applications May 1997
Jim looks at the three types of menus in the traditional application window and how they enhances usability by defining the appropriate user interface as the user activates or deactivates an object.