Questions tagged [desktop-application]
program installed on user's machine as opposed to a program that runs remotely and is accessed via an internet browser.
333
questions
25
votes
12answers
6k views
Users forgetting to regenerate PDF before sending it
My company is developing an ERP software for small businesses and we're encountering a recurrent problem.
In the "Invoices" part of the app, there's a "View/Print" button that exports the invoice to ...
0
votes
2answers
51 views
“Undo Changes” & “Refresh”
In a desktop application, where users are pulling and sometimes updating values on a "datagridview" (DGV) that is data-bound to a database, how should a designer distinguish between "undo changes" and ...
0
votes
1answer
49 views
Combined Tables View
I have 4 different types of external logging data that can be opened in my desktop application. They are displayed as tables. Each of these have a few columns in common (e.g. timestamp), but most of ...
0
votes
3answers
51 views
Where should I place my inline data table buttons?
I'm building a desktop application with the intent for my users to perform action items on remote devices (can't say due to company IP). Users will also check the status of these devices, pre and post ...
0
votes
0answers
36 views
Handoff Design materials to developers in WPF
I am UX expert working mainly on designing web applications.
Now the company is thinking moving to develop a window application.
I am looking for materials around design standards for windows ...
1
vote
3answers
77 views
Groups vs notebooks
I'm working on a note taking app. One of the feature is that you can group the notes in a folder like manner in which one can create. subgroups inside groups and more subgroups and put notes/notebooks ...
1
vote
1answer
71 views
What design pattern should I use to migrate windows lists with buttons to web?
I have a Windows application that I need to migrate to web. This application has many forms that follow the same pattern: (1) a grid on the left with columns and rows than can be selected, and (2) ...
1
vote
1answer
45 views
Make desktop application support the minimum resolution
Windows UX Checklist states that a desktop application should:
Support the minimum Windows effective resolution of 800x600 pixels.
For critical user interfaces (UIs) that must work in safe mode,
...
2
votes
5answers
177 views
Hover vs click on mega menu
Now implementing a new mega-menu. The current mega-menu's submenu options are shown on user cursor hover. Would a more explicit action like mouse click be more appropriate for this (like the example ...
0
votes
0answers
21 views
Is it common to have multiple apps open, on one web portal?
Is it common to have multiple apps open, on one web portal?
And is this anyhow different if it's not apps, but models (machine learning models)?
Models run within the portal container.
2
votes
1answer
46 views
Should non-existant files in a recently used files list be deleted without user prompt?
Say, you have this common thing of "recently used files" or "frequently used files" in your application.
It may easily happen the user moves or deletes a file they had opened recently/frequently. So ...
0
votes
3answers
95 views
Should phone numbers be clickable within our software on (desktop)?
We are working on cleaning up our system and identifying phone numbers so they will be detected and show up as links for mobile users.
The question I have is should we make them show up as links for ...
2
votes
2answers
93 views
Should we mask API keys?
As an authentication token, an API key is pretty much functionally identical to a password.
Does it follow then that we should mask the API key, when it is entered in a settings dialog?
The reason ...
0
votes
2answers
85 views
Full width of the textbox on the screen or not [duplicate]
Apologies if this comes as a naive question.
From design point of view basically a textbox control (or any control) in a grid container, does it makes sense to have a textbox in fullwidth of the ...
0
votes
2answers
83 views
How to choose between a Popover, Inspector, or Toolbar to edit properties?
macOS apps have the following patterns (and possibly others) for editing properties of selected items:
Popovers (See here)
Inspector Panels (Right Sidebar)
Toolbars
In the following example, the ...
0
votes
1answer
66 views
Is it a problem if my form takes up twice as much space in web form than it does in the desktop application?
I am trying to migrate some forms from a desktop implementation to a web implementation, which should still primarily be used by desktop users.
Currently, we have a generic out-of-the-box theme (the ...
1
vote
2answers
57 views
Keeping alert messages the same on desktop & native app
For a given alert/error message, a version that specified why it was happening and how it can be resolved tested the best on desktop. The current message is 173 characters long (including spaces). But ...
5
votes
1answer
82 views
How should double-click (to select text) on a space being handled?
When you have a text sentence, you likely know that you can double-click on any word to select it. That is very convenient and I personally use it a lot.
Background
To have a little bit of ...
-1
votes
2answers
165 views
Positioning two brands' logos on application header
I am designing an application where I have two brands' logos to be displayed on the header. Positioning two brand logos next to each other looks odd.
Which is the best way to position the logos on ...
1
vote
0answers
48 views
Reasons for the difference in design patterns for mobile to desktop vs. desktop to mobile
I want to follow up on a recent question that related to the WeChat Web experience but expand the scope of the question a little bit further: Is WeChat Web bad for UX?
In recent times companies that ...
3
votes
1answer
115 views
Why consoles/terminals usually have a black background?
In unix and window systems, the console has a black background. Is this historical or is there any UX reasoning behind it?
I'm working on a web based terminal and giving the window the look and feel ...
3
votes
4answers
121 views
Alternative to displaying multiple plan columns
I'm working on a pricing page that has 6 different plans. What is the optimal way of displaying them considering the limited amount of space we have?
Mobile isn't an issue since they will just be ...
1
vote
1answer
62 views
Optimising large navigation bars
How would you go about revamping a navigation as long as this while keeping all the links visible
On desktop
On mobile
0
votes
1answer
40 views
Adding ads to a top bar of a paid platform
What's your opinion about adding banners to the top navigation sticky bar of a paid platform for professional users?
2 important considerations:
Some of them are paying up to $5500 each year to use ...
0
votes
1answer
97 views
Absence planner - UX thoughts and recommendations
I hope you all have some nice Christmas days.
I'm currently working on a new and responsive version of our company absence planner using Googles Material Design. As I build it from scratch I would ...
0
votes
2answers
74 views
How to prompt existing customers to change their email
I'm looking for some UX examples to how other companies have handled this situation:
Scenario:
Devs are using an old password encrypting method (sha1) I believe and need to change it to a more secure ...
0
votes
2answers
88 views
Should a right-click in a desktop application always bring up a context menu?
In most every "modern" desktop application I've used, the right mouse click brings up some sort of context menu. In some though, especially high end engineering applications, right click is used to ...
1
vote
0answers
30 views
Global keyboard shortcut override conflicts for power users
Working on a Windows desktop tray application which listens to a global keyboard shortcut and provides a data readout from a device and sends the numbers (data) as key strokes to the application in ...
0
votes
2answers
117 views
Need examples of applications similar to TurboTax [closed]
I'm currently working through an application very similar to how TurboTax functions. I have a paper form that needs to be entered by users into my application (see example" https://www.cms.gov/...
1
vote
1answer
217 views
Design patterns for desktop context switching
I'm working on a project which has, mobile / tablet / desktop designs which progressively reveal more content.
In our app we have two key 'modes'. It's similar to an online ide so you could call ...
0
votes
0answers
53 views
Is there a use case for overriding/overpainting the OS-provided system menu?
An app developed by another team here at Acme Software overrides - in fact, erases - the operating system-provided system menu (it also custom paints the minimize, maximize, and close button, but that'...
2
votes
2answers
139 views
How to present a tree in which objects may appear more than once?
I have a window showing a number of objects that can be individually hidden or recolored. Accordingly, in a sidebar each has a checkbox and a color swatch that launches a color picker when clicked:
...
1
vote
1answer
133 views
How to alert users to come back to a desktop app?
We are working on a financial related desktop app. The user can commit their money in an escrow for a period of time, and the user must be online about/within 24hrs before the expiration of the escrow ...
3
votes
4answers
149 views
Is it better to disable a button and show hovering message, or show a popup message when click on it?
I'm talking about Desktop applications, Windows applications.
In my application, user needs to perform a certain steps, before a button can be clicked. The issue now is that for that button, what is ...
2
votes
1answer
135 views
Are zoom in/out buttons necessary anymore?
Zoom buttons still exist in almost all desktop applications as well as applications on the web (SAAS). It seems like these buttons would be gone by now (with pinch and mouse scroll wheel) but they are ...
3
votes
5answers
334 views
How to clarify ambiguity in “Save” behaviour on web based applications for users
I noticed on Office 365 applications and the Office 2016 applications that there is an Autosave feature (which I believe was started in OneNote).
The official explanation of how the feature works (or ...
0
votes
1answer
84 views
Design dilemma: how to show maximal amount of controls in a clean way
We are trying to improve and modernize the design of our desktop, dialog-based application:
If I look at the examples of modern user interfaces they all look pretty, but contain just a fraction of ...
2
votes
1answer
812 views
Phone number click to call on desktop?
I'm designing a web flow in which one of the outcomes is to call our support team. On mobile, this is simple enough as pressing on a phone number triggers the alert below.
However, I'm not sure what ...
0
votes
1answer
41 views
Ask metadata for each file added to a folder (possibly many files added at the same time)
I have a file sync Windows desktop application that looks very much like Dropbox:
Tray icon is the only GUI.
Users mostly uses the Windows file explorer, but also programs such as MS Word that open ...
2
votes
1answer
326 views
To meet WCAG AA on desktops, what is the minimum space required between two click targets?
I have already looked at these:
1. WCAG 2.1 for Target size
2. button sizes on web pages on Stack Exchange
3. Material Design Google Guidelines for Buttons
4. Spacing between UI components on Stack ...
3
votes
1answer
243 views
Distinguishing overlapping event types in a timeline
I am working with software that is used for scheduling astronomical observations. I've created a timeline view for the user to create, view, and edit observation schedules. Here's my mock-up:
Gray ...
0
votes
2answers
88 views
Where to display reset link content?
I am working on a desktop application and when the user requests a password reset link they got it in an email.
Now I am wondering where should I display the content of that reset link (setting new ...
0
votes
1answer
733 views
Can we make a tooltip as error message?
I have a form wich contains some fields,when the user leaves one of these fields empty,I change the border color to red and I attached a red tooltip to explain the error ,is it possible to make ...
3
votes
2answers
170 views
Are desktop applications called “apps” yet?
Now that we're in a mobile-dominated world, is it acceptable to call computer programs that run on desktop computers Apps?
Take this example from the OSS Podlove subscribe button. When activated on a ...
0
votes
2answers
162 views
Instant typing search pattern
I've been meaning to implement the pattern of an "instant search" on a Desktop site, which would work by simply starting to type and have the input focused on a search form.
The only example I have ...
1
vote
1answer
87 views
Native or custom look and feel for desktop applications [closed]
I am currently writing a library to create desktop user interfaces, and I am asking myself a question: is it better to have a native look and feel, or a consistent custom look and feel?
I personnally ...
4
votes
1answer
176 views
Performing serious tasks on mobile
I have a theory: A large percentage of users are reluctant to do something too serious on their mobile device. The smaller screen and lack of control here induces a sense of unease. It's possible that ...
0
votes
1answer
97 views
Why does it seem like achieving native-looking is a very good thing on Desktop applications?
I've seen a lot of developers trying hard to get their apps as native-looking as possible (relative to the OS) by using GUI toolkits like GTK+, WxWidgets and so on. It made me wonder if it is kind of ...
0
votes
2answers
143 views
How to Show result of different methods with one goal
In a part of a winform application, there are different methods to achieve one goal, where users can select one or multiple ones.
Suppose this part of the application is responsible for search ...
1
vote
1answer
48 views
Application state visibility from far away
I'm curious if there is any way to display the current application state in a good way, so it is visible from far away.
Currently it is done as you can see in the image.
The task is, to see the ...
