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I've seen some questions on specific UX designs best practices, like for the mobile apps (Android), but are there best practices for UX for the new Web 2.0 interactive web applications, like for RIA?

The reason I ask is I've done a lot of work with the AJAX toolkits: GWT, YUI, jQuery, but I've always had explicit requirements for the GUI. Now I'm being faced with creating prototypes and I'm having to think about the layouts and user interactions using component widgets with regards to UX.

I just found this from a website that is based on the Designing Web Interfaces book: 6 simple design principles underpin 70+ patterns and best practices for creating rich internet applications.

  • Make it Direct
  • Keep It Lightweight
  • Stay on the Page
  • Provide an Invitation
  • Use Transitions
  • React Immediately

This is more of what I was attempting to ask for, but I didn't know about that info when I first asked. I didn't want to end up answering my own question. I'm wondering if there are more guidelines/examples available.

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    It's still too broad. There's no such thing as "best practice for UX of RIA". There are too many different types of designs for rich internet apps that depend on too many variables for anyone to be able to give you any kind of constructive answer here. It's like you asked "What are best practices for designing a database driven website?"
    – Rahul
    Jan 20, 2012 at 13:27
  • I'll do more checking to see how to narrow it down, but I've been guessing how to do layouts for the client and it's not easy doing this from scratch. I'm not good at mind-reading.
    – user9533
    Jan 20, 2012 at 13:32
  • Why not visit the chat and see if we can help you from there?
    – Rahul
    Jan 20, 2012 at 13:36

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After some discussion in the chat with @BenBrocka, it seems as if you've answered your own question. There's nothing about RIAs that distinguish them from normal user interaction, so any guidelines on good/simple UI Design should apply.

The reason Android (and similar devices) have "best practices" specifically for them is twofold: 1) they use a different physical interface (touch vs. keyboard-and-mouse), 2) they're part of a larger framework (Android, iOS, etc) and want to try to unify the user experience across applications.

With RIAs, it's still keyboard-and-mouse, and it's not part of any larger framework, so the same principles should apply.

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    On top of that, there really are no "best practices" for UI/UX - that's why things like UX.SE exist :D
    – Brad Orego
    Jan 20, 2012 at 15:48
  • Very good answer, I made the assumption that somehow RIA should be different, in and of itself. The key here is the interface, if that is different, then new best practices apply. Thanks!
    – user9533
    Jan 20, 2012 at 16:10

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