Questions regarding software interaction with its human users.
2
votes
0answers
20 views
How to extend the noun-verb paradigm to multiple nouns
Jef Raskin's Humane Interface recommends to favour noun-verb combinations over verb-noun combinations in user interfaces—this is because selecting a verb usually introduces a mode but selecting a noun ...
-4
votes
1answer
90 views
Does Facebook parse text into smiley emoticons via server-side code, or from client-side javascript?
I noticed on Facebook that whenever you use these emoticons:
:)
:P
;)
:D
They transform and parse the text into an actual image representing that emoticon.
My question is this ... how do they do ...
0
votes
0answers
29 views
Should my dropdown of recently used items show items I no longer have access to [migrated]
We are implementing a client for our document management system. Part of this is the checkin screen where one of the fields a user chooses is the folder where the document should be checked into.
...
2
votes
2answers
195 views
Is it realistic to use designers for complex UI [closed]
When I created my first web application few years ago, I remember trying to use the designer in VS 2008. Before I can even remember I abandoned it to the favor of actual debug to understand how my UI ...
8
votes
2answers
394 views
Is it crazy to develop a TUI today? [duplicate]
I'm starting to develop a new program. It's basically a database interface, run a few queries, show the data in a nice way and be able to easy input new data (like this website).
Thinking about which ...
1
vote
0answers
26 views
How to validate (and group) User Listings in Marketplace
I am building a hobby marketplace (comic books). Users are able to list comic books they own for trading with other members. The problem I'm running into is that I would like to standardize the ...
2
votes
1answer
104 views
What is the preferred strategy for editing data from a database?
We are redesigning an old VB6 application in Net. The application makes extensive use of a database and includes management of club members and their results in the competitions that they partake in.
...
0
votes
2answers
97 views
What design pattern (in python) to use for properly seperate runtime infos with core code?
I am not sure if this is a clear question.
I work on a python project that is based on terminal(console), for which I am planning to implement a GUI.
I am not major in CS so I really have no idea ...
6
votes
1answer
305 views
Mapping variable inputs to user interface elements
Background
Developing a system for creating eBooks. The data is highly normalized. The eBook designs are packaged as "themes." The themes can be configured with options for: fonts, colours, some ...
-1
votes
5answers
367 views
Beautiful user interface vs. more and more technical features? [closed]
I will understand if you find this is more a discussion than a technical question and if you close the topic (then, where would be an appropriate place to discuss about that? thank you in advance).
...
1
vote
2answers
225 views
What about using MVC as the way to provide Responsive Web Design?
Responsive Web Design shows the user different elements -- or elements arranged in different ways -- by using media queries (if the device is a desktop or laptop, show them this; if a tablet, show ...
1
vote
2answers
169 views
MVP Implementation at the UserControl Level
I'm trying to figure out how MVP should be implemented at the UserControl level. I thought I had it, but I ended up reading a blog post that pretty much shut me down. Now I'm back at the start and ...
-1
votes
1answer
287 views
Design tips for a program with GUI's for basic, intermediate, advanced & expert users [closed]
I've been asked to develop a program with four interchangeable GUI's so that users can switch from basic to intermediate to advanced to expert mode seamlessly and at will.
I have a good understanding ...
4
votes
1answer
270 views
Is there an effective way for creating complex forms?
While creating a 'search' form I've been faced to an overwhelming complexity and I was wondering whether there is a well-known way to accomplish such task.
Fields of the form in question can be seen ...
6
votes
2answers
456 views
Why do certain sites don't allow Back / Forward / Refresh?
This has been a cause of frustration for me on many sites like IRCTC, Online Banking sites which wont allow Back, forward or refresh. If you do you would be logged out and you have to login again. ...
4
votes
2answers
171 views
How to outsource the UI of a dynamic Web application?
I have a web application developed using Spring and Hibernate, which uses a REST API and Javascript to display and update content. The project is nearly completed, but I want to enhance the look and ...
0
votes
3answers
228 views
How do I tell a user that bps means bits per second or bytes per second?
I'm writing an application that deals with the network and the hard drive. For the network portion, the application measures in bits per second, while the disk portion measures in bytes per second. ...
4
votes
1answer
120 views
How to maintain standard quality of images uploaded by many users?
We're developing a site where individuals (store owners) will be able to take pictures and upload to the site. Our biggest concern is the variance in quality of pictures across the site.
The options ...
-3
votes
2answers
540 views
Why do we still use a programming language instead of using just SQL? [duplicate]
In database managements systems lecture, my professor said that we can use Oracle etc. ui designing tools instead of using Visual C# or etc. He added that SQL is as strong as a programming language. ...
-1
votes
1answer
101 views
Toolkit for cross-platform applications in Python [closed]
I would like to develop cross-platform GUI applications, which work on both Linux and Windows systems. I am now confused on which toolkit to use. I asked many of them and each one are saying different ...
1
vote
3answers
209 views
Am I handling my exceptions in a sensible manner?
I'm still restructuring the code I have been given to update on my current work project, and I've come to the point where I'm looking at how the code handles an 'exceptional' input, that doesn't ...
9
votes
4answers
375 views
How to deal with user interface design and respective feature support in Agile development?
In an Agile development process usually the main focus is on User stories, but sometimes a single requirement may span several user stories.
For example, the client may request a search page for all ...
2
votes
1answer
115 views
Criteria for selecting MigLayout for GUI code?
It seems to be easier to use and more feature rich than standard swing layouts. It looks like a do it all replacement for all standard layouts. If you are making simple code to just show the time in a ...
1
vote
1answer
103 views
Creating an account to receive sensitive information on a mobile device
I am developing an Android application for my final year project which allows the holder of a mobile device to receive a text notification containing potentially sensitive information from a server.
...
1
vote
2answers
294 views
Time limit on user input
I am trying to put a time limit on the user input, so if they take longer than 2 seconds to put type in an input then the program will terminate. I was wondering if there is a simple way to do this in ...
3
votes
3answers
135 views
System evolution approach: gradual or cataclysmic?
When working on established systems, I've often found ways to improve a user interface to maximize user efficiency (example: legacy app maintenance screen doesn't allow multi-line operations where ...
10
votes
2answers
335 views
How Should “Undo Typing” Behave?
I'm implementing a Java app that includes an Undo/Redo stack. I've noticed that some apps (such as TextEdit on Mac OS X) let you choose "Undo Typing" from the Edit Menu after typing some text. I'd ...
2
votes
1answer
72 views
Polling and control devices
I am in the early stages of planning for an input device which will consist of some as-yet-to-be determined number pf physical controls. From previous experience with such devices I have found that it ...
2
votes
1answer
92 views
creating simple states for a stateless input
Given an input device (basically a keyboard) that reports keyup and keydown, how may I most efficiently store and retrieve information about which keys are currently depressed? My first thought was a ...
0
votes
1answer
97 views
Dynamic items on JavaFX interface
I am looking to build an application similar to Blocky. For that I will be using JavaFX. I am working on prototypes atm. It appears that JavaFX UIs are generally made using Scene Builders. I am still ...
0
votes
0answers
146 views
How to make structural theme with Spring MVC?
I want to create structural theme feature for my application, I tryied to use the theme feature of spring mvc but it's used to find a different css, so it only works on CSS based application theme.
...
1
vote
1answer
65 views
handling rules applied to a set of checkboxes, radio buttons or form fields
I've been wondering about applications that have a set of checkboxes or radio buttons, even collections of form fields in their UI.
At this moment I'm handling all the choices separately but of ...
3
votes
2answers
151 views
Automated object creation from user input
I am working on a command-line application that runs simulations. It has to be heavily configurable; the user should be able to provide a very large number (100+) of parameters, some mandatory and ...
3
votes
4answers
749 views
Why is the UI of nowadays application getting so “plain”? [closed]
Take a look at Google, Windows 8, etc.
Why does everything look so plain now? Looks really ugly to me.
Is it all because of smartphones and tablets?
Do I have to follow that trend?
2
votes
1answer
110 views
Object locking over Internet
I am building a tutoring application that can be used to draw objects and then one is able to drag them around. I would like to know what is the best thing to do when someone clicks on an object and ...
1
vote
3answers
544 views
What data structure could a word processor use to map the user's caret position/text selection to its internal representation of the document?
Word processors (e.g. Microsoft Word) display documents to the user as styled text. The user can select a part of this text and apply styles to it, and edit the text.
The word processor must (I ...
2
votes
2answers
237 views
Desktop application, dependency injection
I am thinking of applying a real dependency injection library to my toy C#/GTK# desktop application. I chose NInject, but I think this is irrelevant to my question.
There is a database object, a main ...
1
vote
1answer
41 views
Internationalization messages based in views or in model entities
I have a small webapp in java and I am adding the internationalization support, replacing texts with labels that are defined in dictionary files.
While some texts are obviously unique to each view ...
1
vote
1answer
50 views
Time tracking and payment registration architecture
Тitle might be a little bit incorrect. :) Anyway, I'm building a software where employees input time they worked per day (work hours) and employer "pays" for this time. "Payment" is done outside this ...
6
votes
2answers
319 views
How much detail is in a good UI regression test?
We use a detailed step-by-step user-interface regression test for our commercial web application. It has a "backbone" test for the most used / most important parts of the system, with optional tests ...
82
votes
17answers
22k views
Is it a good idea to design an architecture thinking that the User Interface classes can be replaced by a command line interface?
In Code Complete page 25, it's said that it's a good idea to be able to easily replace the regular user interface classes by a command line one.
Knowing its advantages for testing, what about the ...
6
votes
2answers
767 views
Are there any programming fonts with oldstyle figures?
I find that oldstyle (or text) figures are much easier to read in any context outside of simple assignment. Are there any low-ambiguity fonts, monospaced or proportional, that have text figures and ...
-2
votes
6answers
7k views
How to create a cool user interface for an excel file in java or C#? [closed]
I have an excel file with many sheets and relations between theme (ie, formulas that relates sheets to each other). I wanna create the user interface for this excel file.in other words I wanna create ...
0
votes
2answers
159 views
How should a website validate a users mailing address?
This is for a site that relies on shipping items via UPS or FedEx. I know there is software out there that does it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coding_Accuracy_Support_System), but if you are trying ...
5
votes
6answers
360 views
Most recent vs Most used [closed]
We are building a business application (a laboratory management system to be more precise) mostly for internal company use only. To make it easier for users to find items which they work on we are ...
2
votes
2answers
226 views
Need some advice on CLI design, I need to provide simple but powerful command line options
I am writing a utility that runs on RHEL5 command line. I need my command line options to be simple but powerful. I looked at the various UNIX utilities to get an idea of how simple command line ...
5
votes
3answers
962 views
Why doesn't Microsoft release UX frameworks to build UI's like their current UIs?
When I started learning programming with the .NET framework, I started by using WinForms as a UI technology. It uses “classic” menus just like this office 2000:
A few years later Office 2007 was ...
2
votes
1answer
204 views
UI message passing programming paradigm
I recently (about two months ago) read an article that explained some user interface paradigm that I can't remember the name of and I also can't find the article anymore.
The paradigm allows for ...
1
vote
1answer
1k views
Can I use metro style interface in my own web application?
I am wondering if I would need to license the Metro style or if I can just freely use it in my own applications. I mean, is it patented or protected in any way that would prevent me from building my ...
1
vote
3answers
531 views
Apply vs. Ok buttons [closed]
Often when configuring settings, applications have both an "Apply" and an "Ok" button. Should the "Ok" button always perform the "Apply" before closing the window out? Are there pros and cons to doing ...
