Reusable solutions for commonly occurring problems in user interface and user experience design.
-3
votes
1answer
125 views
What is the best format to ask users to submit financial information [closed]
I'm looking for an example of a simplified way of asking users to submit financial information in an online form for the following 4 categories e.g. income, commitments, assets and liabilities. Any ...
3
votes
1answer
122 views
Information on various patterns for log in/join and in which context to use them? [closed]
Does anyone have any information regarding log in and register interactions, specifically which patterns to use in which contexts?
For example: A site where you can view most of the content without ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
Table data in Mobile phones
I want to display a table with 4/5 columns and possibly 100 rows (as in desktop app right now) in smartphones. The table cells are also editable. Now we want to port this desktop app to smartphones ...
3
votes
1answer
92 views
What pattern to apply to a sizable flight logging form
I need to build a form of about 15 to 20 fields for the purpose of logging a flight. I will be collecting the following data:
Registration of aircraft flown
Designation of the user (pilot in ...
3
votes
2answers
126 views
What is the author referring to with “UX mail lists”?
After reading a Boxes and Arrows article by Stephen Turbek (packed with UXy goodness) I am unfamiliar with the phrase "UX mail lists" in context. Is the author actually suggesting a pattern library ...
10
votes
7answers
1k views
“Clear input” button within a search box - why nobody but Apple uses it?
In my opinion, this button is very useful, giving you an ability to start over in just one click. But I can't seem to find non - Apple software that implements this pattern. Why?
EDIT: I'm not ...
1
vote
1answer
175 views
Patterns in thinking driving UX design? [closed]
Ok, this question will be tricky.
We were having a discussion among some colleagues, and I came up with the hypothesis that most of the current-accepted UX design patterns are mostly based on our ...
12
votes
3answers
703 views
Why some websites put a small contrasting bar on top of the page?
I've observed this pattern in practice at many places now, websites put a small contrasting bar on the top of the page. What is the rationale behind it?
Readability header:
Tenderapp header:
8
votes
5answers
3k views
Desktop software design patterns
There are a lot of resources on the web about web applications design patterns, but only a few about desktop applications.
And this is quite strange as most of the business targeted software is ...
20
votes
6answers
2k views
Why does the golden ratio work? Or does it?
This is just one example of an article promoting use of the golden ratio in design. Over the past few years I've seen quite a few similar articles, but none of them really seem to go into depth beyond ...
3
votes
5answers
1k views
Slide out teasers near the bottom of the page?
On more and more sites now I'm seeing what I'm calling "slide out teasers" appearing at the bottom of pages. What happens is I'm scrolling down the page and nearing the bottom, and then a small box ...
0
votes
3answers
342 views
What are good visual metaphors for exploring many-to-many relationships?
Right now I'm using two lists side by side where clicking on an item in list A filters list B to offer only the Bs related to the selected A, and Vice Versa. So clicking on B3 make A2 and A5 disappear ...
4
votes
5answers
268 views
What is the best pattern to distribute items into several buckets
Let's consider the following:
A company wants to ship 3 types of fruits (apples, watermelons, strawberries) between two cities. Company has got 3 cars that can be loaded with fruits. Each car has a ...
1
vote
1answer
357 views
Comments Design Patterns or Best Practices?
Are there any resources online that discuss best practices for comments/threaded discussion systems?
I'm wondering if there has been any consensus on issues like comment edit windows, deleting ...
1
vote
3answers
1k views
Tap to hover and double-tap to click?
One of the limitations in mobile design is the lack of any sort of hover state. This is especially problematic when it comes to tooltips.
So why isn't the system one where: single tap = hover and ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the difference between a 'slider', a 'gallery' and a 'carousel'?
From a pattern perspective is there a difference? Or are they really different names for the same thing?
7
votes
4answers
1k views
Form Design with fifty search criteria
I am working on a search screen which has 50 fields having the following types of controls. Also one more problem is user can choose any one of the search criteria that can still fetch the results.
...
0
votes
1answer
653 views
Pattern Library vs Style Guide - what are the differences?
I work in a small team of designers and we've been slowly making our own Pattern Library. At the same time, the brand and marketing people have been collaborating with a visual design studio to ...
9
votes
6answers
2k views
Alternative UI patterns for a large, shallow tree
In our app, AdminUsers can be associated to Editions, which are part of a Course.
A Course would be something like Ruby 101, and an Edition would be French - Online or English - Classroom. So an ...
4
votes
3answers
247 views
Pattern for navigating by typing text in a text-field
I am working on an application which has a very dense UI with lots of menu items.
Is there a UI Pattern for navigating to different screens by typing text in a text-field?
The keyboard focus is on ...
2
votes
1answer
478 views
Where to find design patterns for product management web apps?
I'm creating a IA-prototype for a product-management web app.
I don't know the field (product-management) that well and I'm looking for samples.
The requirements for this Web-app are:
web-based
...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
Design pattern or best practices for top notification bars?
The top notification bar on SE pops up to show messages like 'badge x earned'. What are the best practices for this type of UI?
Specific details:
On showing - Displace content downward (like on SE) ...
34
votes
6answers
5k views
When is endless paging appropriate?
When is it appropriate to use endless paging in a web application (e.g. auto load or a "see more" link)?
Examples
Google Reader
Facebook
This also creates a few issues for the user:
Returning ...
7
votes
4answers
793 views
Good solutions for boolean filter with sub conditions
I'm looking for a good and a clearly represented solution for a boolean filter with sub conditions (max. 5 Levels). Best, a variant with tables. Many apps use the typical mac osx filter (see ...
30
votes
9answers
1k views
Have I missed anything from my list of web form best practices?
So I have been putting together a list of best practices to apply to forms recently and there is a lot of conflicting research out there. I have been combing everything from blogs through to HCI ...
8
votes
8answers
944 views
Where is the best position for CRUD button?
I was always confused position CRUD* buttons on my application. I see some applications, there are CRUD bottons on the right side, top or bottom. In your opinion, where is the suitable place for the ...
-1
votes
2answers
486 views
Could you please comment on this web layout? [closed]
I am designing a forum related to certain academic topics with features similar to Stack exchange sites. I have designed a web layout to facilitate easy navigation between the post overviews & the ...
13
votes
4answers
252 views
What is it about our mental models that app-centric seems more intuitive than content-centric?
I always thought that content-centric was the easiest for people to deal with, i.e. "I want to change this document", and not "Let's run this app so I can then change that document".
It seems that ...
1
vote
2answers
950 views
Multiple edit table UI
I am wondering if you have seen a table design on web where multiple items could be edited at the same time. For example if I have a column with title group name and the first row is having value ...
5
votes
5answers
311 views
What's the name of the design technique where you make something clearer by using contrast?
For instance, choosing a background color that makes all text stand out better, or giving all hyperlinks a background color the opposite of the color of the actual hyperlinks. An example of this is my ...
5
votes
7answers
1k views
Favourite site with examples of well-designed web ui elements [closed]
Please list your favourite site for finding examples of well designed web elements, one per answer so they can be upvoted individually. Explain why it is good in the answer
0
votes
1answer
129 views
How to convey the message of 'organising the cloud' to users?
https://datkey.com is a service we are launching in the near future and I got great input from my prior request so hope a new page connects with users better.
Any tips on how to convey to users the ...
8
votes
2answers
1k views
Fixing UI Antipattern “multiple menu levels”
My brain seems to be pre-programmed to make administrative UI's look like the mockups below.
In the mockups I have 3 levels of navigation, with on the form another set of buttons for the form ...
5
votes
3answers
618 views
Alternative sites devoted to UI micro features
Little Big Details is a microblog that shows screenshots of various user-interfaces, highlighting the the "little" things that make a "big" difference. For example, the latest entry highlights a ...
2
votes
2answers
188 views
Why would you not want to align the name of a user and their avatar?
It's a little thing but I noticed that both google plus and facebook do not exactly line up the name of the user and their photo-the name is slightly lower than the top of the photo. Is this a ...
5
votes
1answer
271 views
Chrome Options UI Pattern Name
I've been looking for a way to organize hierarchical data. I came across the UI in Chrome Options. I really like it and think will work well for what I need. Is there a name to this pattern?
As you ...
7
votes
2answers
571 views
What is the name for the technique used on Yammer, LinkedIn etc profile pages?
The technique I mean is where the profile page will say "You have completed 60% of your profile, fill in your x, y and z to get to 100%". I think this is a very powerful technique but I can't remember ...
4
votes
6answers
512 views
Creating a shared pattern library
I work in a small but growing team of UX designers developing a suite of web applications. It's become obvious that we would benefit from a common pattern library, but are unsure how to get started or ...
1
vote
5answers
340 views
What is the standard convention for ordering On/Off buttons?
I am working on a Windows application that has a set of On/Off radio buttons, specifically "Low Power" and "Normal".
I have arranged them so that the Low Power button comes first, and the Normal ...
3
votes
2answers
616 views
tab menu + side panel - how to organize menu and “context menu”
I have a dashboard, with tab menu (tabs over the content) and a side panel with a vertical menu.
My question is. i would like to make one menu (tab or side panel) as first level menu and the other ...
2
votes
2answers
387 views
Best practice for a property inspector that also allows users to edit
I am creating a UI that allows users to select and edit items and it works something like the following:
A user selects an item
An always visible property panel is populated with that items metadata ...
6
votes
4answers
2k views
Redesigning a My Account Page, What kind of navigation is best?
I have had this low priority pet project to redesign the My Account page on our site, http://www.yousendit.com, and since this has been on the back-burner for so long, I cannot determine the right ...
7
votes
2answers
758 views
What is the most effective UI/UX paradigm for comment moderation in a CMS?
I've been working on a web CMS and I'm nearing the point where I'll be implementing comments and comment moderation. What are some common ways comment moderation is handled from a UI/UX perspective? ...
6
votes
4answers
251 views
How many interface designs are necessary beyond the initial mockup phase?
Every time we start a new software project at my company, we will go to great lengths figuring out the best and most user friendly interface possible. We often have many reasons for the decisions we ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
Examples of Master/Detail UI for “Social-Style” data [closed]
I'm looking for examples of interfaces that allow users to explore complex, interconnected systems on a variety of levels, from high-level patterns to low-level details.
In the mapping world, this ...
5
votes
5answers
866 views
Is it a bad idea to put the logo in the top-right corner and the navigation in the top-left?
Firstly I would like to say that I don't think there is a concrete rule about where the logo on a website should be – but intuitively I think it should be in the top left at least for continuities ...
3
votes
3answers
847 views
What are innovative, new ways to design Master/Child relationships on a page?
I'm currently working on a ASP.net application that has a variety of master, child relationships, portrayed on the page in a master gridview with tabs below. While this works for a somewhat small set ...
24
votes
2answers
1k views
What objective qualities make a user interface intuitive?
How is intuitive defined in terms of UI? Are there any studies about what objective and measurable qualities make a user interface intuitive? What design principles, patterns, or approaches are most ...
4
votes
2answers
205 views
What to call UI element like 'like' or 'mark as favorite' ?
Is it a kind of button? Do such UI components have a specific name?
7
votes
2answers
216 views
Are there any design patterns for interacting with 3D objects on a multi touch surface?
I'm in a project were we would like users to interact with a 3D object. Users should be able to zoom, pan and rotate in all dimensions without using extra tools. I'm looking for best-practice design ...
